Chronicles of Azarath
by darkbustehrancher
Summary: WOOT! Finally off hiatus, with a new chapter to boot! AU Raven's homeworld and past has been dramatically altered
1. FAMILY

This chapter has been edited by none other than Jurodan! WOOT!

Another thing, if anything is inconsistent, please let me know promptly, okay?

**Disclaimer: **I do not own _Teen Titans,_ just this idea and the occasional Original Character that may pop up. Anyway, this is my first completely original fan fiction of _Teen Titans; _some of you may recall that I had done another one, _Children of Fate. _It didn't go to well with someone known as _Vasilis; _I don't think that he liked what I did to his character. I DO NOT want to get into that as of this moment. I only did two chapters in _Children of Fate _before it got scrapped, but if you want to read them, you **_MUST _**contact Vasilis first and only after getting his permission will you receive them. Anyway, on with the story! Enjoy!

CHRONICLES OF AZARATH

CHRONICLE ONE

Family

A messy, young man was watching them curiously from a rooftop. He was wearing a tattered black cloak that concealed his features in shadows even though it was a cloudless, summer afternoon. His black, baggy shirt was in similar disrepair, and the lower portions of his black, threadbare pants were tattered in so many places he may have very well been better off with a patchwork of rags. He crouched his too-thin body against the roof; which was a little difficult for him to do because he had a towering height of about seven feet, so that he could not be seen as easily from his prey below.

The Teen Titans were enjoying their lunch at their favorite pizza place. There had been very little crime during the week and the Titans were taking advantage of the summer afternoon sun. Robin finished the last slice of pizza, for once in a long while; he finally got to have the last piece instead of it going to another member of the team. He got up from his seat and asked the Titans, "What do you guys want to do today; crime seems to be giving us a break…."

"The mall of shopping!" the happy form of Starfire exclaimed.

"The car show, I want to show off the T-car," Cyborg had a giant smile plastered on his face, the Jump City Car Show was a once-a-year event as well as the last day to register and he did not want to miss it, especially if he could cream the competition.

Beast Boy agreed with the mechanical warrior, "You'd kick everyone's butt there if you went!"

Robin smiled inwardly; he looked at Raven and found that she was once again immersed in a book and reading silently. "The car show it is," Robin announced.

As the Titans walked to the T-car to go to their destination, the concealed young man decided to make his presence known by leaping off the ledge he was on and landed nimbly. As he got up from his landing position he said to the Dark Titan, "Raven, my sweet, sweet Raven. I have finally found you."

Raven froze en route to the T-car, the book that she held in her hand fell to the asphalt in a silent thud. Her blood ran cold and she shivered despite the beating of the summer sun. She looked at the one that had spoken to her and her heart nearly stopped beating, her face paled considerably despite her already dull-white skin. After an eternity of looking at him, which was only a few seconds, she finally spoke, "No… it can't be…."

"It can't be me?" the man asked, "I'm here, aren't I?"

"Mother sealed you—" Raven said incredulously before she was cut off.

"Away?" the man answered, "Yes she did, and now, my love, I'm here to claim you again."

"I'm not as weak as I once was, Athænïl!" Raven spat vehemently toward the man.

"We'll see about that!" Athænïl growled as blue energy gathered into his hands. He threw the blue energy orbs at Raven, which she blocked with a Dark shield. Then shot forth a massive cascade of Dark energy. Despite his under-nourished form, Solstyce nimbly dodged her offensive maneuver.

"Titans, go!" Robin shouted as he drew his Bo staff and charged at the new threat. Cyborg charged toward the skinny threat and fired sonic blasts at him as well. Starfire flew into the fray while firing starbolt after starbolt. Beast Boy ran into the new fight as an animal of unrivaled speed, the cheetah. Raven sighed mentally and fired another salvo of her Dark energy, in her heart she knew that this was not going to be an easy battle to win.

Athænïl blocked Cyborg's sonic blasts with a blue energy shield then sent a well-placed shot of blue energy that went straight to Cyborg's cannon arm. The arm reformed itself from its cannon form to prevent further damage to its components. Cyborg snarled, that was his _good _arm….

Robin leapt at his foe with his Bo staff drawn and swung with well practiced strikes that caused Athænïl to jump back. He suddenly leapt to the side and Athænïl was met with energy blasts thrown from Starfire and Raven. He moved an arm over his head and took their combined energy attack head on. He emerged from the smoke unharmed and flew into the air as he formed more of his blue energy in the shape of a staff and smashed it down upon Starfire's back and as she fell, he blasted her with a stream of blue energy. She hurtled toward the ground at breakneck speed and smashed into Robin as he tried to catch her falling form.

Beast Boy caught Athænïl completely off guard, transforming into an ox and smashing into him with enough force to send him flying through a building. He charged again to follow through with his attack but Athænïl grabbed Beast Boy by the horns and began to push him backward by sheer physical power alone. Beast Boy transformed into a Tyrannosaurus Rex and roared.

Athænïl was completely unfazed by the grandiose transformation. "I have seen far worse creatures on Azarath," he said with a sneer, enveloping his arm with blue energy and slamming it in Beast Boy's chest, sending him rocketing into the air. Beast Boy's pained roar as a Tyrannosaurus Rex turned into a shout as he reverted to human form just before he careened into raven.

Athænïl's eyes glowed blue and tendrils of blue energy shot out of his body and wrapping around everyone except Raven. The Titans struggled fruitlessly against the blue energy. It was biting into their exposed flesh, burning them more as they struggled with every moment. Then realization dawned on the dark Titan, this man was not playing games. He would kill if it came to it. "Tell your comrades to leave us alone so… so we can talk," he said to her with a twisted smile.

Raven did not speak; she seemed to be in a bitter mental struggle.

Athænïl's expression soured, "Is this how you honor the request of your brother?" he smiled and continued, "Maybe I should kill them; they won't interfere if they're dead." The energy-bindings painfully tightened around their victims, slowly squeezing the air from their lungs. Cyborg's chest armor groaned as it was bent inwards, forever restricting the metal Titan's ability to breathe. Their pained shouts were cut short as the air was forced from their chests. Their eyes bulged out, and their mouths moved in a futile effort to draw air into their bodies.

Raven scowled in defeat, "Enough, they won't interfere."

Athænïl loosened the energy-bindings just enough to let them breathe but did not let them go, "Raven! You can't!" Robin said quickly but was cut short as the bindings around constricted tighter around him. Athænïl gave him a sour look and tightened his grip on the Boy Wonder. Robin was rigid as he was crushed even he knew his body could not take much more.

"That's better," Athænïl said, releasing the Titans and allowing them to collapse to the ground. Robin had passed out as did Cyborg; the metal armor on the metal Titan was crushed and he more resembled a crushed soda can than a human. "Now we may do battle." He threw a barrage of blue energy orbs that exploded against her black energy shield. "Is that all you can do?" he asked her with a demented smile plastered on his face.

"_AZARATH METRION SZYNTHOS!"_ Raven chanted and she sent a continuous stream of black energy at her brother.

Athænïl blocked the blast with a blue energy shield. He retaliated by sending a blast of blue energy in the shape of a hand at her. Raven defended by enveloping herself in her own energy. The force from the blast sent her through an office building. She steadied herself just as Athænïl careened into her with the force of a freight train. She was forced through several floors before her she regained the ability to fight.

Raven's eyes glowed black as she enveloped her foe in her dark magic. She slammed him through a wall, the floor of the office building and several floors beyond. The full injury of his last attack showed up as she coughed up a few drops of blood. She let out a breath that she did not know she was holding when she realized that she had vanquished Solstyce.

The floor below her erupted in blue flames; Solstyce emerged from the blue fire, eyes blazing. He enveloped a file cabinet in his blue energy and lobbed it at Raven. She formed her Dark magic into a shield around herself and took the blow. She flew out of the building, into another one and onto the asphalt of the road below. She emerged from the crater unharmed and flew off just in time to evade a barrage of blue energy.

She enveloped a car in her dark magic and chucked it at her foe; he evaded the attack and countered by launching a human that was trying to flee their battle arena. She set her down and formed a shield just as a monstrous, pale-blue hand grabbed her and exploded in a glorious explosion. Athænïl flew up to her in a rush and forced her into hand-to-hand combat. His strength far superior to hers in every way; how this was achieved was beyond her.

"_XIU DEK AMOS!!" _Athænïl shouted as his blue energy gathered in his right hand. A blue cross of energy formed behind Raven and held her firmly in place with chains of blue energy. The blue energy was cackling loudly and the discharges from it were wreaking havoc on those below. The lightning-shaped tendrils of energy faded as he threw the gathering energy at his prey.

Raven stared in horror at the unleashed magic destined toward her. She formed a shield made of her Dark magic and broke her own Cardinal Rule by pouring everything she had into it. The semi-spherical shield held its ground against the massive, blue energy bolt. She found herself unbound and free to do as she pleased—for the moment. Athænïl was panting; it appeared as though that last attack had drained him. She knew better than to dawdle and wait for him to recover. She enveloped a car from the road below, thankfully no one was there, and hurled it at him. He was hit squarely and was thrown into the asphalt of the road. The car exploded and sent bits of rock and dirt into the air. A broken water main was spouting water some fifty feet in the air. Raven was holding her breath; she hoped to the gods that her brother had been killed in that last attack.

The car flew over head and landed some few feet away from Athænïl. He looked at his sister with what could only be described as utter hatred. His tattered clothes were torn further and his hood fell down to reveal that he had dirty, black hair. His violet eyes shined with anger and hatred. He brought his hand to his lower lip and wiped away the blood that had spilled out from his cut lip. He flew up to meet his prey and flew towards her, beginning the chase.

Raven was shocked that he had survived that attack, but in her heart she knew otherwise. She dodged his frantic attacks as best as she could. Even though they both were nearing magical drain, they continued to fight. Only one of them would leave alive. She dodged another one of his blows and strangely, she hit his jaw. He smiled at her and resumed attacking her. She growled inwardly, he had let her hit him on purpose.

"_AZARATH METRION SZYNTHOS!" _The dark Titan chanted and assumed the form of a massive, black raven of shadows. She flew through the building in an effort to escape her pursuer.

Athænïl smiled; how he loved it when his prey gave the chase. He assumed the form of a massive, blue falcon and flew off in search of his sister. He flew through buildings, people and machines until he found her. He returned to his true form and shouted, _"VERE NÉ FAL ROX!!" _Four, chain-like beams of blue energy flew from his body and attacked the ethereal raven. In a screech of pain, the ethereal bird resumed its true shape.

Raven gasped as her ethereal form was destroyed. She was dazed from the sudden change in form and displacement into her home plane. Her mind ached, she was magically exhausted and she knew that he had won. She tried to fly away from him at her top speed in her true form.

"_SZANTHÖS TEMPESTURA SCURA!" _Athænïl shouted as he threw out his right hand. Blue ribbons of energy burst forth at Raven; she dodged but the blue ribbons followed her. She was caught; the energy wrapped around her, holding her firmly in place.

As Raven struggled to get out of the dilemma that was fast becoming a living nightmare, flashes of her life on Azarath flickered before her eyes in realization that her older brother defeated her yet again. The monotony of it all was knowing that he would find her no matter where she ran. The Fates had decided long ago that her Father's _precious little boy_ always seemed to get his way; no matter what opposition was involved. He_ always_ got his way, while she was cast aside like refuse, only to be used when times were dire.

Athænïl levitated to her, "For five years I have waited for your warmth, your love and your gentle caress." He stroked her cheek in an oddly seductive way, smiled and continued, "I know that you have longed for the same. You threw yourself at me for five years, don't deny it. You and I were meant to be."

"Not anymore!" Raven snapped, struggling fruitlessly against the blue bindings that held her.

Athænïl eyes began to glow an eerie blue color, "You want me, don't you my sweet Raven?" he brushed a few strands of hair out of her face and smiled lovingly at her.

Raven's eyes began to glow. "Yes, brother, I want you." Raven's voice became mechanical, almost as if the words had been placed in her mouth. Blue energy surrounded them and formed a swirling vortex that pulled them into the ground. They vanished without a trace; the only thing that was left behind was Raven's Titan Communicator.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Inside an unknown place, Solstyce and Raven stood next to each other. Odd items were on display on shelves and the windows were stained glass, a dresser was underneath an elaborately decorated window. Bookcases stood in rows along a wall; most written in unknown or obscure languages. A lone bed stood in a corner.

Athænïl walked to the bed and took off his tattered old cloak and shirt. He looked at his sister with eyes of a madman; Raven was unperturbed at this as he asked, "Raven, do you want me?"

She smiled in a hypnotic, seductive way and took off her cloak, then, slowly, leotard and revealed herself in the dim lighting. She answered in a voice that was not hers "Yes I want you."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

A swirling mass of indigo colored energy appeared on the floor of the hidden room of where Raven and her brother slept soundly. A young man in black satin robes floated up out of the swirling mass. He outstretched a hand that became enveloped in indigo energy and began searching through the dresser. He extracted a pouch that upon further inspection revealed to have metallic red powder held in its grasp. He put the contents of the dresser back where they belonged and pocketed the pouch of red powder.

He walked to the sleeping form of Athænïl and whispered, "How could you? She is your sister!" he shook his head and whispered a spell that was used for the sentencing spell casters, _"Venosec odantas veneficus." _A violent shade of indigo energy enveloped Athænïl then vanished, Athænïl rolled over seemingly oblivious to what had just taken place. The man enveloped Raven and the blanket that she was sharing with her _loving _brother in his indigo energy and formed a whirlpool that he used to leave the room.

The two appeared on a grassy knoll that overlooked the city and the bay, which held Titans Tower in its in stillness. The sun was just beginning to rise over the horizon. "Raven, please wake up." The man said while gently shaking her. When the sleeping teen did not answer, he said to himself, "She must still be under his control." He sighed and muttered another spell, _"Dö nà kaze ec ça vé."_

Raven stirred and woke up. She gazed into the eyes of the young man and whispered, "Âthi, is that you?"

The man chuckled and said, "I have not gone by that name in a long time. I am now called Moya." An odd silence came between them, Moya decided to break it by saying, "It's been five cycles (1) since I last seen you."

"Has it been that long?" Raven asked pulling the blanket around her.

"Sadly, yes," Moya replied looking at the sunrise.

"Moya, I haven't heard that name before. What does it mean?" Raven asked distractedly.

"Actually, I made it up, it means Holy Sanctum."

Raven acknowledged in a distracted way and continued to gaze out over the city apparently, deep in thought. A burst of energy permeated the air and quickly vanished. "Did you feel that?" Moya asked.

"Yes, what was it?" Raven asked perplexed.

"I'll tell you later." He entered a trance-like state, his eyes were glowing indigo and the area around them was enveloped in his indigo energy. He snapped out of his trance and hurriedly asked, "Raven, have you had your Coming of Age ceremony?"

Raven was silent; she had her head hung low as though in defeat. "I didn't think so." Moya said sadly then said, "Then I will perform the Ceremony, where is your place of residence?"

She pointed to Titans Tower, "I thought that only an—"

Moya cut her off, _"Erth _could perform the ceremony?" Raven nodded and Moya continued, "I _am _an _Erth." _He pulled out a pendant that had a five-pointed star inside of a circle. A star, crescent moon, sun, circle and an image of fire were inscribed in the gaps between the star points. The pendant was colored silver, "Here is my proof."

"I'm sorry I doubted you," Raven said sadly.

"We must hurry," the two were enveloped in indigo energy and vanished.

They reappeared in Raven's room. "Get dressed." Moya said, "I sense other beings here, they will be the witnesses to your ceremony." Indigo energy formed a whirlpool on the door and Moya walked through it.

Moya levitated into the main living area, he had scanned the Tower's layout when sensed the other Life Signatures. He formed a sphere of indigo energy and threw it at the main window; needless to say, it shattered.

The Titans rushed to the main living area, the alarm blaring in the background. Raven was nowhere to be seen. "What d'you want?"

"I mean you no harm." Moya said.

"Then why'd you trash our window?" Cyborg asked, his cannon fully charged and repaired.

"I could find no other way to contact you." Moya replied and took off his hood. His short hair was bone white and his eyes were yellow speckled with amber, his pupils were vertical and resembled that of a feline's.

"Then what do you want?" Beast Boy asked, ready to morph into one of his many beast forms at a moments notice.

"I need you to be witnesses for Raven's coming of age ceremony." He sighed and continued, hoping that his next statement would set aside some of their unease, "My name is Moya."

"What do you mean?" the Tamaranean asked, confused by Moya's choice of words.

"I'll explain later," Moya said, "just trust me okay?"

The Titans gave their assent, some more reluctant than others. Moya closed his eyes and summoned Raven via telepathy. 'I just hope that she can withstand the mental stress at such a young age.' Moya thought to himself.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

After the uniquely odd occurrence that happened no less than thirty minutes ago, Robin asked, "You didn't just come here to give Raven her ceremony, right?"

Moya let a small smile tug at the corners of his mouth, "Highly perceptive of you. You are right I will explain it to you all later, right now I need to speak to Raven." Moya went through the door of Raven's room and entered her domain. He looked around and seen the various objects that littered her room.

"Raven," he called attentively, no response was heard except for the rustle of blanket as Raven turned over in her bed. Moya smiled slightly as he remembered meeting her for the first time.

"Hi!" a little boy of about five years old called to a girl about the same age. The boy had bone-white hair and yellow eyes speckled with amber; his pupils were vertical. "Want to play?" the boy asked and held out a ball in temptation.

The girl seemingly did not hear him; she stayed under the tree that provided shade for the two children. Her head was hung low as though in shame, her blue-violet hair obscured her eyes.

Thinking that he hadn't been heard, he asked again. The little girl still did not move or make any indication that the boy was there at all; she stayed quiet as though she were in a shell that shielded her from the world around her. "My name's Kami, what's yours?" the boy smiled wide revealing that he had lost a tooth.

"Raven," the girl replied in a withdrawn voice that cracked as though she had seen something that a five-year-old girl should not have ever seen in her short life. She did something quite peculiar right then and there; she looked up at Kami with tear filled blue-violet eyes then looked back down toward the ground.

"Why are you sad?" Kami asked with innocence that only a child could muster under such odd circumstances, his face showing complete curiosity.

It took the girl known as Raven a while to answer, an image fresh from her mind and enhanced with a child's perceptiveness flashed in her mind. Foreign words that she did not understand were shouted by two adults, one male the other a female. Warped flashes of light and darkness streaking across the rooms of a large enclosure; explosions, muffled screams of pain from both sides; the taste of shattered masonry on her tongue and its unique scent forever engraved into her nose. Laughter, cruel and merciless laughter.

At last the deeply sadden girl answered, "My Mommy and Daddy were fighting."

"Mommies and Daddies aren't supposed ta fight. Fighting's bad," Kami said to Raven. Suddenly, as though Kami remembered why he was there asked yet again, "Do ya wanna play?"

As a form of reply, Raven shook her head. She still had not moved from her perch on the tree's roots. Kami, being caring in nature, laid down next to the girl and looked up at the massive tree that gave them shade, out of instinct, though he knew not where it came from, he stood up and went to hug the little girl. The ball lay forgotten in a small patch of warm sunlight.

Raven was stunned at this simple action; she was always told by her Father that she was worthless, unworthy of his love. Somehow, Kami had generated comforting warmth that soothed her worries away, yet his embrace caused her to shed unshed tears. Kami, not knowing what to do, kept holding what he considered a new friend.

Moya extracted a pouch from one of his many pockets and used his magic to place a circle of metallic red powder around the bed of his long time friend. 'Sweet dreams my old friend,' he thought then left in a swirling mass of indigo energy.

He used what little knowledge he had of Titans Tower and found himself in the main living area. He seen the Titans repairing the window he had damaged beyond repair. The window was enveloped in indigo energy and was refitted to the new dimensions in an instant.

The Titans were surprised that he had helped them out; most of them believed that he was still talking to Raven. "Thank you for your help!" Starfire said ecstatically.

"I was the cause of the damage; I would have repaired it any way, even without your prior consent."

"Did you talk to Raven yet?" Rabin asked.

Moya sighed, "She was sleeping; I could not bring myself to wake her." He then asked, "Where is your food preparation area? I haven't eaten anything for two _sorokai." _

"What's a sor-oh-kai?" Beast Boy asked quite confused.

"Sorry, I lapsed into Azarathian," Moya answered then chuckled, "it means that I haven't eaten anything in about seventy-five of your hours."

"That's three days!" Cyborg exclaimed.

"Oh, we Azarathians can go without food for four _sorokai, _without showing signs of fatigue," He paused and continued, "but that doesn't mean that we don't get hungry."

"So you are from Azarath?" Starfire asked innocently.

"Yes, I am," Moya answered.

"You don't seem to be as creepy as Raven," Beast Boy said.

"Well, my powers are not driven by my emotions as Raven's are," he explained, "They are driven by the holy energies that make me an _Erth_."

"I did not know that you could be a planet," Starfire said again.

The Azarathian chuckled, "I do not know what I would be specifically called in any of you languages, but it would be along the lines of a priest or a cleric."

"Oh," Beast Boy said, apparently at a loss for words.

"Now where was the food preparation area, again?" the Azarathian asked again.

"This way!" Starfire exclaimed and practically dragged Moya with her to the kitchen.

An unusual aroma filtered out from the kitchen as Moya worked on what he called "a typical breakfast for the average commoner." He emerged some twenty-odd minutes later carrying a bowl filled with cement-thick, blue paste.

"What's that?" Beast Boy asked from the table as Moya sat down and began to eat the blue paste.

"This is a," he struggled to find the right word in English, "a type of porridge, I think."

"What do you mean, 'you think'?" Beast Boy asked as he ate his no-meat breakfast.

"I still do not know all of the food names native to this language." He answered.

"That makes sense," Cyborg said as he came up beside Moya and examined the uninviting blue paste. "But what's in it?" he asked.

"I did not have the necessary ingredients, so I was forced to improvise, so I used some of the food items that are native to Tamaran."

"You used my food?" Starfire asked, extremely shocked.

"Yes, I did," Moya said, then sighed and continued, "If I needed your permission, I am sorry that I neglected to do so."

"You are forgiven," Starfire said calmly.

"There is some more if you would like some, I made too much."

"Define 'too much,'" Cyborg said.

"I used the biggest pot I could find," Moya chuckled and continued, "My eyes were bigger than my stomach; that's how the phrase goes, right?"

"Yeah, it goes somethin' like that," Cyborg said.

In the kitchen, Starfire made herself a bowl of the blue paste that was in a rather large soup pot. She took an experimental taste of the foreign food and exclaimed, "This is a most delectable dish!"

When Moya finished eating his meal, he put the bowl in the sink and went to Raven's room. "Raven, you need to get up," he called attentively from her doorway. Raven was not roused. He walked to over to her bed and gently shook her awake, she groaned as she was taken from blissful slumber; the mental drain of her ceremony only too evident.

Moya helped her get up. "Raven," Moya said, his voice cracked as though he was going to place a heavy burden on her shoulders that she was not yet ready for. He sighed and continued his original thought, "You are with child."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Look! Don't you see it? It's a cliffhanger! I'm mean, aren't I? Well, in the next chronicle I promise won't be so mean. 'Till next time!

Darkbusterrancher

1: One cycle is about 731 days or two years if you want to be simple about it.

14


	2. TRANSCENDING

Living here in Jersey

Fighting from afar

You gotta find first gear

In your giant robot car

You dig giant robots

I dig giant robots

We dig giant robots

Chicks dig giant robots

Nice!

Oops! Wrong show! We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

CHRONICLES OF AZARATH

CHAPTER TWO

Transcending

A lone man stood at in an almost limitless plain, a castle was barely seen on the horizon. He was wearing a black cape that reached the heels of his feet, black baggy pants and a loose black shirt that had a vertical rip through it and a scar running vertically; his shirt was stained with blood. His vivid, jade green eyes had lost their luster for some unknown reason. He took a few steps and the frost that had formed on his shoes broke and crunched as he stepped. Yet he did not seem to mind, it appeared that he welcomed the cold.

He walked to the top of a small, frozen hill, sat down and sighed; his breath rising in a puff of steam. His eyes glittered with its previous luster for no more than a moment as a single, solitary tear trickled down his cheek and froze instantly. He stood up, frost clinging onto him like a babe to its mother. He started walking in a random direction as an eerie shadow flew past him. He looked at the weak, wintry, rising suns, shrugged and continued walking as though he were a machine programmed to do just that. The shadow passed over him again, he looked up and seen gaping, black jaws of death upon him.

The man leaped to the side and evaded the winged-beast's attack. The dragon flew and turned to attack him again.

The man withdrew a concealed silver sword and shouted, _"Kokoro dai mè nâsh ka, zshwagunas!"_ (You picked the wrong day, dragon!) The whitish dragon swooped down and struck the man as he leaped into the air. The man's vertical pupils constricted in pain as his shoulder was lacerated. The man landed and chanted, _"Azarath metrion szynthos!"_

The man's sword was enveloped in black-gray energy. He ran with reckless abandon toward the dragon and missed his target by mere millimeters. He leaped into the air again and managed to strike the dragon with true aim. The man landed in a pose that was similar to that of a classic hero, his sword held like a dagger, was dripping steaming blood. The two halves of the dragon crashed on opposite sides of him, steam gently rising out of their corpses like a fine mist cast by a waterfall; frost was beginning to form on the scales that touched the frozen ground.

The man wiped the sweat off his bone-white skin with his equally white hand. A welcomed frigid gale whipped his waist length platinum-silver hair about. The man lay down on the icy grass between the two steaming corpses. In his fractured mind, he replayed the events that sent his love to the grave, knowing that it was _he _who sent her there. _He _could, no—should, have stopped her from taking _him _head on, yet he let her. She was _dead _and she promised that she would come back; she had _never_ broken a promise to him before. The price he paid to let her do what was right was too much for him.

She would have been married to him if circumstances permitted it, he had known her for ten years, and finally they would have been a family. "She's _dead g_et over it," a small voice in the back of his mind said.

"What's the _point_ of living if everyone I know is _dead?" _he asked the voice.

"There is none, none at all…" the voice said morbidly soothing tone. He so wanted to just simply... die. To welcome the blissful state of having to do nothing, yet his body simply refused to grant that one simple wish. He looked at his shoulder; it had healed in no more than a moment. He continued to play that memory as he lost himself to depression….

The two suns were just beginning to rise over the horizon, their pale, buttery yellow and blue light doing little to warm the icy land. Three beings were slipping through the shadows seemingly unnoticed, toward the bowels of the magnificent castle that they had called "home."

In the middle of the corridor, a man stood blocking the way. A richly crafted, ruby red robe hung on his broad shoulders. A haughty gold crown sat upon his head and was filled with precious stones of many colors. _"Kokoro'ca volsc mè Quasé-dö venyosskai."_ (You're violating the King's laws.)

When no answer came from the concealed beings, he said again, _"Gà kazé dolsc kokoro'ca surgite."_ (I know that you're there.)

In the shadows, one of the beings said, barely above a whisper, _"Galscrow Moya zsa mè sommé-dasu, Gà'îne veni venos interius."_ (Take Moya to the shuttle-bay, I'll hold him off.)

Before he could leave the safety of the shadows, a woman held him back, and whispered, _"Gà su'nto kazé mè ashram vex," _(I don't know the access code,) she smiled warmly, yet weakly as she knew that she was about to do something impossible, _"Vas_ _Gà'îne veni venos interius." _(Go, I'll hold him off.)

"_Siva…venös'em zsa ryo dacimé kokoro, venös'îne lusec kokoro."_ (But…he's too strong for you, he'll kill you.)

"_Gà dre thos venos,"_ (I won't let him,) she smiled again and said, _"Kaî vas."_ (Now go!) She leaped out from the safety of the shadows, levitated and formed spheres of green energy around her hands.

"_Gà ne dolsc kokoro né zsa népo kéal, aso iyo xinsui."_ (I see that you wish to fight me, a wise decision.) He formed black energy around his palms and readied for battle. _"Xen korkoro su zikkurm, cae kéal zsa opéquatu kéasolce. Gà so Varuna, urca kokoro?"_ (Before we do battle, allow me to introduce myself. I am Varuna, and you?)

"_Mè gosoroe'em Achaté!"_ (The name's Achaté) the woman audibly whispered with anger that betrayed the calmness of her voice.

"_Wecos kokoro,"_ (Thank you) Varuna nodded then charged at Achaté; she blocked with a green shield. Varuna released them from the gridlock and charged again, dodged a blow and retaliated.

An explosion echoed through the corridor, one of the two men rushing down the corridor stopped, looked toward the source of the noise and said, "Achaté."

"Azrael," the one called Moya said to his comrade, _"kokoro côraka vas."_ (we must go.) Azrael sighed and nodded; the two continued running until they reached the very bottom of the castle. They reached a doorway with a computer console attached to it. Azrael muttered something inaudible as he typed away, the door opened silently.

They walked out onto the catwalk and looked down upon the various crafts, _"Surgite!"_ (There!) Azrael shouted, pointing at a small one-man craft. _"Vas, demmi trwa,"_ (Go, use this,) he sighed and continued, _"deku'îne galscrow kokoro zsa karo finyr." _(It'll take you to your destination.)

Moya looked at the key card, knowing that his friend had sentenced himself to exile in the outlands by aiding one of the few remaining _Erths _escape to another world, and sighed. _"Wecos kokoro."_ (Thank You) He levitated down to the craft.

The entrance door exploded violently. Varuna stood there with a madman's sadistic smile plastered across his face. _"Trwa valadmir zsa çyr." _(This belongs to your friend.) He extracted something from within his robe and tossed it before Azrael. The object was red and covered in a red viscous substance that slowly ran on the smooth metal of the catwalk. Varuna started to dry his hand off with a piece of cloth, and then tossed a necklace next to the red lump of bleeding flesh.

The realization slowly dawned on Azrael. The lump of carved, bleeding flesh was the heart of his friend. Her necklace, now covered in the puddle of blood confirmed it. Rage, all consuming rage, filled him. He let it flow through himself without restraint, relishing the feeling of power he now possessed. He was beyond the reach of words; the only thing that would quench his thirst was the blood of Varuna.

The sound of wrenching metal startled Moya from within the cockpit of a small one-man craft. The key card having long since been placed in the activation console had a pre-rendered course set to a planet that was under developed and its magical aura was next to negligible. The propulsion systems hummed to life as the craft began its long voyage to an odd planet known as Earth. Moya said something not in any written language. It was a prayer in Azarathian tongues.

Within moments, the fusion drives of the craft had propelled him out of the planet's gravitational field and into the safety of hyperspace.

Azrael was beaten, battered, bloodied but not defeated. Despite the many wounds and lacerations, he did not mind. It only fueled his resolve to avenge the death of his lover. His mind became corrupted with one thought: vengeance. He willingly let the primal form of magic flow through his body and relished every moment of it.

Varuna looked on at the startling upsurge of power Azrael exhibited. His enemy just kept coming, no matter how many times he was wounded; and wounded he was. Azrael should have been dead from blood loss, exhaustion, multiple lung piercing and severe organ damage. Yet there he was getting up from an indention in an iron wall as if it were air.

"And now you die!" Azrael shouted in one of the simplest languages known, unable to maintain concentration to speak in his native tongue. Malevolent energy poured out from the dark recesses of his soul. His eyes shined bright with the black fire that controlled his actions.

Energy warped by vengeance, hate and spite enveloped Varuna. His screams were cut short as the energy invaded his lungs; it seeped into his body driving out the magical aura that had called Varuna its vessel. In a rush of ecstasy, Azrael had his enemy torn asunder. Varuna's body flew apart in a myriad of directions. Blood, flesh and bone covered the ceiling, floor, walls and the mangled catwalk on which he stood. The wounds on and in his body healed in seconds as dark energy slowly ebbed away, and the full weight of Achaté's utter destruction hit him. He staggered up from where he was kneeling and….

A great rush of wind snapped Azrael out of his reverie. A giant, white dragon had landed with a tremendous thud, and a rider leaped off his mount. Many other dragons were in the blue-purple sky, waiting for something….

The rider was wearing black dragon scale armor, only his head was uncovered. His eyes were a dull grey and his pupils were horizontal. "I refuse to speak to you in our noble tongue."

"Then don't." Azrael said in a said in a mechanical monotone. He stood up, frost had reformed on him and he still did not mind. "What do you want _knight?"_ The word _knight_ was used as an insult, not as a title.

"Watch your tongue, traitor." The knight said harshly. "Where is Captain Varuna?" the knight asked someone on a dragon.

Azrael extracted a dented gold crown that held many blood encrusted, precious stones embedded in it. He tossed it toward the knight. "That's what's left of him, Apollyon."

Apollyon's anger clouded his judgment for no more than a moment. In his fit of rage, he withdrew a projectile-like weapon and threw it at Azrael. Its aim was true and it pierced the shoulder and went through with a burst of blood. Strangely, Azrael did not notice and the wound healed fully in a matter of moments.

"Don't do that again, it was annoying." Azrael said.

"I'll do as I please," Apollyon said swiftly, "the King sent me to kill you, however, you seem to be a worn out shell of a once great warrior."

Azrael stayed silent, seemingly contemplating what had been said. "Without your lover, you're nothing but a shell," Apollyon antagonized, "Pity you couldn't see her precious body be torn apart, as she screamed for your help." Apollyon let out a barking laugh.

At this, the tiny flame of life inside Azrael flared into a spectacular bonfire. He summoned the darkness that resided inside him again. His body contorted with immeasurable power that sought to rend him asunder. Azrael welcomed the blissful embrace of darkness as nothingness consumed.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Remnants of fire coursing through veins woke up Azrael. His slowly focusing vision told him that he was in a special holding cell. This cell was designed by an _Erth. _Its function was to negate any and all forms of magic, primal or otherwise.

"I see that you are finally awake," Apollyon said, "That was quite a show you put on." Seeing the blank look on Azrael's face, he continued, "I didn't think that you would remember your spectacle. You destroyed nearly half of my force when you invited the Darkness within you. I was actually hoping that your body would burn with the power you wielded."

The memories of the events that happened no less than twelve hours ago flooded his mind. They were distant as though he was recalling a fleeting dream, yet they were vivid as though they were engraved into his mind and unable to escape them. He was drawn to these painful memories no matter what he did, like a moth to the flame. Burnt flesh searing his nostrils, screams, death moans, explosions and the sound of still living bodies torn asunder by physical and unknown means.

"….Seams as though Exile is unbefitting of you." Apollyon said, "Without the _Erths _to seal your power, you've become a liability. King Akaröth ordered me to kill you."

Apollyon withdrew an intricate silver sword and stepped into the holding cell. "Farewell my old friend," he said as he plunged the sword deep into Azrael's delicate flesh. The sword went through its intended target, as it failed to resist. Blood spilled onto the granite-gray ground in torrents as the metal blade tore into vital arteries, and gently dripped off the sword as rivulets formed on the cold steel. Azrael showed no signs of having been attacked at all or make any indication that there was a five-foot long sliver of cold metal inside his body. At this Apollyon forced the sword higher in his victim, the metal emerged out of his back like a hot knife through butter.

Gastric juices spilled out as the sword shredded delicate flesh. Bubbles formed on its victim's chest as a lung was torn nearly in half. Blood continued to pour out in torrents; the floor was nearly covered in the red viscous substance in mere moments. Quite suddenly, the blood stopped pouring out of its vessel. The wounds that should have killed any mortal closed up. Tendrils of flesh attempted to envelop the sword and make it a grotesque appendage.

Azrael was in a comatose-like state. Having avenged the death of his lover, he had no other purpose in life. All he wanted, yet he knew it was never going to happen, was a proper burial for Achaté, and the only way to do that was by having an _Erth _do the ceremony. 'Pity all the _Erths _were slaughtered by Akaröth,' he thought, '_Erth, _there's something about that word….'

Apollyon pulled out the stuck sword, his hands dripped with remnants of warm blood; his sword had skin that had grown on the blade. "What are you?" Apollyon gasped as he staggered back out of the cell. Azrael did not answer, as though possessed by an outside force, he moved mechanically toward the exit of the cell.

Once at the exit, he attempted to cross the threshold, a genetically coded shield kept him at bay. They strained in an effort to overcome the other, man over machine, machine over man. Electricity arced and danced over the body of Azrael, burns disappeared as fast as they appeared. The machines that powered the shield broke down under the strain of maintaining the proper energy levels needed to stop Azrael. The threshold danced and sparked with a myriad of miniscule explosions.

The smoking body of Azrael emerged victorious. The luster in his eyes returned with fierce determination. "Step aside," he said quietly, yet his voice was laced with threat. Apollyon did not move he was in shock; no known mortal had ever escaped from under his jurisdiction.

Apollyon gaped at his former friend and ally, unable to do anything. "I said step aside." Azrael said firmly; Apollyon scuttled out of the way. Azrael summoned the bloodied sword and slowly turned around. He looked at his former friend and said, _"Deyamo döem mè Quasé?"_ (Where is the King?)

All Apollyon did was point in a rather vague direction. _"Wecos kokoro."_ (Thank you.) Azrael walked away, an aura of defiance followed him.

8


	3. TRUTH

CHRONICLES OF AZARATH

CHAPTER THREE

Truth

_At the same time that I saw the Lamb open the first of_

_the seven seals, I heard one of the four living creatures _

_shout with a voice like thunder. It said, "Come out!"_

_Then I saw a white horse. Its rider carried a bow and_

_was given a crown. He had already won some victories_

_and he went out to win some more._

--Revelations, chapter six.

"Raven," Moya said in a voice that betrayed his calm demeanor, "you are with child."

"No," the now limp form of a girl managed to choke out, "I can't be…"

"I'm sorry, but it's the truth. You know that there are no laws against the act your brother committed."

"I—I know." She said as she latched onto her long lost friend.

"And you know the consequences of not going through with it, right?" Moya asked as he put his arm around her. His supernatural warmth seeped into her and strangely soothed her.

Raven shook her head as a reply, her blue-violet locks flopped about. Moya sighed and said, "The most common ones are loss of all magical ability, mental instability, depression and blood lust. There are others, I'm not sure how they'll manifest though."

"I see," Raven said numbly, as the information she was given slowly seeped into her consciousness. "So, I am forced to carry my brother's child?" she asked.

"Unfortunately, yes."

With the news that she was forced to carry her unwanted child, suppressed memories rose unbidden to the surface of her mind. Her mother's final breath spent trying to tell her daughter to leave their forsaken world. A younger Raven's tears dripped onto the lukewarm blood of her mother's hand, her father beating her in a drunken rage, yelling at her in slurred Azarathian words that the three-cycle-old version of herself did not understand. Raven tried to keep the memories at bay; when one was dragged successfully into the Abyss of her mind, another would take its place.

The walls Raven had erected against the world she lived in broke down in seconds. She sobbed into Moya's protective form for what may have been hours, until she cried herself to sleep.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Once Raven had fallen asleep, Moya gently laid her back on her bed and left her room. He found himself back into the main living area. He saw Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg playing a game of some sort on a large display screen while the young woman from Tamaran cheered them on.

Moya watched in amusement, it appeared that the three Titans playing the game were against a team of three opponents via a complex network of telecommunication lines. It had come down to a last minute decision from Cyborg, which inevitably cost them the game. As the three teens cursed their rotten luck, Starfire tried her best to cheer them up.

At this point, Moya let his presence be known to the four teens, "I see that you lost your game."

"Yeah," Cyborg said, "it's okay though. They're the only team that's been able to beat us and vise versa."

"And the first one to get ten wins gets lunch at the losing team's expense." Robin said then changed the subject, "How's Raven?"

Moya took a moment to form the proper words for an appropriate answer, "She is …as well as can be expected considering…"

"'Considering?'" Beast Boy asked, "Considering what?"

"She will tell you when she is ready." Moya said then asked, "Are any of you familiar with the legend of the Scroll of Seven Seals?"

"It sounds vaguely familiar," Robin said, apparently in very deep thought.

"Yes, I have!" Starfire shouted, levitating in blissful joy.

"I would like to know what you know," Moya asked.

"Ok," Starfire said as she floated down. "An evil sorcerer, who called himself Aramil, ruled the cosmos with a fist of iron. A Tamaranean challenged him and after a long battle he succeeded by turning Aramil into a scroll. He sealed the scroll with seven seals and threw it into the boundless reaches of space." She took a needed breath and added, "It is a most wonderful time of bed story."

"You are almost correct, Princess of Tamaran." Moya said, "The Scroll of Seven Seals was indeed hidden. Except that, each seal represents a cataclysmic event for every planet that has sentient life on it. A god created it by the name of Lucifer. Some of you may know him as the Archangel.

"Upon the creation of this destructive item, the King of the Gods hid it on a remote planet. Seven keys were created and the only way to reach the Sealed Scroll is to unlock its crypt with the Seven Keys. This act angered Lucifer so much that he staged an uprising on the Immortal Planes. He was banished to a small planet and sealed there with his followers to burn forever in the Lake of Eternal Fire.

"The victors celebrated what one would call a Pyrrhic victory. They did not have the strength to guard the Seven Keys and so they scattered them through out the cosmos." Moya took in a breath of air as he finished his tale.

"How do you know all of this?" Beast Boy asked.

"I have one of the Seven Keys." Moya replied.

"You do?" Starfire asked, "May I please see it?"

Moya withdrew his silver pendant and showed it to the four teens. "This is the Sigil of Azarath, one of the Seven Keys to the Shrine of the Sealed Scroll." He said as a matter of fact. He sighed and said, "I know that you are all wondering why I am here, right?"

The Titans murmured their assent, some clearer than others, and Moya continued, "I came here to escape persecution. Our Azarathian king was slain by a strange being. He declared himself king and deemed that all the _Erths _were guilty of treason and sentenced us to death. This evil king has two of the Seven Keys. He has the Sword of Dark Demise and the Sapphire of Death."

"What do these keys do?" Robin asked.

"The Sword of Dark Demise grants its user legendary strength and will tear through any armor except armor that has not been enchanted to protect its wearer from evil. The Sapphire of Death prevents its wearer from death and to whomever touches it is immune to all disease. The Sigil of Azarath grants its wearer immunity to all forms of mental and Psionic effects. The Eye of Odin gives its wearer the gift of foresight and clairvoyant abilities as well as being able to scry on others. The Shield of Tsarus negates any spell cast on its user and grants amazing endurance and fortitude. The Staff of Orkney will transform matter into another form; and the Ring of Rebirth prevents its wearer from aging, dying and can resurrect fallen souls." Moya explained.

"Those are powerful keys," Cyborg said, "all mine do is turn on my car and open the garage door."

"I know," Moya said, "I believe that Akaröth knows where the Shield of Tsarus is; he knows that I have the Sigil of Azarath."

"So, Akaröth is the person who killed your king?" Starfire asked.

"Yes he is." Moya sighed and continued, "He is extremely powerful. He destroyed the King's High Guard and the King without using the Keys. Only one person from his Vanguard survived. He didn't tell me how he did though."

Before anyone could form an articulate sentence, the alarm went off. The television's screen changed to that of a map with a blinking red dot on it. "That's the museum!" Robin shouted.

"No ones hit that place in weeks!" Cyborg shouted, "Wonder how they got past my tech?"

Robin turned off the alarm, "Where's Raven? She should have been here by now."

"She is…not to be disturbed," Moya said, "I will take her place."

"If you want to," Robin said, "then go ahead."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

A man in a gold and black armor skirted the shadows and melded with them. He was lean, broad shouldered and muscular. The task that he had given himself he trusted to no one; not even the H.I.V.E. It was as though the Fates favored him tonight. The item he sought had believed to perish in the harsh sands of time. The man stopped at a display case. An overly elongated oval sapphire was on a necklace. Inside the precious stone was a shard of roughly hewn jade that was perpendicular to the oval sapphire.

On the display case, a brief description said what the necklace was: The Cat's Eye necklace, supposedly worn by the mythical enchantress, Morgana le Fay. The most remarkable feature of this necklace is the jade fragment imbedded in it; which gives it its name of Cat's Eye.

"How wrong they are," the man said. He withdrew an object that unfolded itself into an odd square-like structure that allowed a fist sized object to pass through. He placed the object on the display case where it adhered to the smooth, cold glass. A small confirming beep echoed silently in the empty room. The glass shimmered for but a moment as it phase shifted a small area of the glass. The man reached into the display case, his hand passed through the glass as though it were air, and clasped his hand upon the necklace in sweet victory.

"Finally," the man said as he looked at his prize.

"Slade," Robin said in a growl.

"Robin," the man in gold and black armor said, "it's good to see you again."

"Why are you here?" Robin asked, "There's nothing here, so what do you hope to accomplish?"

"On the contrary, Robin," Slade said, "there is an object of great power here. It's in my hand right now." Slade showed the five teens the Cat's Eye necklace.

"The Eye of Odin," Slade and Moya said at the same time. He ripped the jewel off the necklace, placed it next to his covered eye and said, "Odin grant me your sight!" The magnificent gem glowed with an inner light that quickly turned into a blazing, heatless inferno. When the light subsided, the jewel fused itself into Slade's skin; it had bypassed his armor. Yet the jewel showed through the armor as though he was not wearing a helmet.

"You know that the Key won't help you in anything other than physical combat?" Moya asked the armored man known as Slade.

"I know," Slade said calmly, "I won't use this Key to destroy the world, I will save it."

"WHAT!!" Cyborg shouted, "After all those times you tried to _kill _us, you want to save the world? From what, us?"

"No," Slade said calmly looking at each of the Titans in turn and peered through to their hidden, inner motives. "I will save this world from itself. The human population has become a weed; it has grown out of control. In a matter of decades, they will destroy themselves; you know what I am talking about, right Robin?"

Robin merely made a disgusted face. In his heart, he knew that Slade was right. In a matter of decades, humans would die of starvation because overpopulation; and the world governments knew of this problem too, they were in the process of making a bio weapon that would kill all but the strongest.

Slade continued speaking, "I do not have the power to save this world, but I know someone who does. He has already contacted me with far superior technology, though he has yet to reveal himself to me."

"I cannot allow you to leave here with the Eye of Odin in your possession." Moya said, "If I must fight you, then so be it. _Fortes fortuna juvat."_

"Ah, fortune favors the brave," Slade said, "You can not hope to stop me. The humans will perish, and I will see to it that the deed succeeds." He leaped down off the balcony he was standing on and landed so gracefully that a swan would have shown jealousy. He pulled out a retractable staff as he charged at the only full human among the group of teens.

Robin blocked the attacks as he took out a similar staff. The others tried to help Robin but only succeeded to be met with resistance from a nameless source. The Titans got up and massaged their aching heads. "What hit us?" Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg got up and felt the invisible barrier. "It's a force field," he muttered in surprise. "How could he…Blood."

"I thought that he was in the jail," Starfire said to a furious Cyborg.

"He must've escaped." Cyborg said in a growling whisper.

A lone figure was in the shadows, slowly becoming clearer as it entered the light. He was wearing a white-gray tunic. Entire portions of his body were replaced with red cybernetic components. His one human eye glared maliciously at the four teens. He walked closer; his highly polished metal _gleamed _in the dark.

_Slash, clang, parry, thrust, block, attack. _Their song echoed hauntingly around them. The fight was taking them to all manner of places within the museum. The thin metal slivers made brief flashes of light as they connected and ground against each other. Slade was having an easy time at fighting the Boy Wonder. His powerful artifact gave him the ability to see into the future for but a moment, it was all he needed to gain an advantage over his foe.

Robin leaped backward and threw a Birdarang at his former master. The explosive disk missed its target and returned to the outstretched hand of Robin. "Tsk, tsk, Robin. You're losing your touch. My being away has made you soft. Well it _does _appear that I will get to save this world after all." Slade said to the panting form that was once his apprentice.

Robin smiled; he had one last trick up his sleeve. He knew it was a big risk but it was one he was forced to make. He gripped his staff with renewed determination and charged. He thrust his staff to the ground and added more momentum to already fast body. In an instant, he retrieved his explosives from one of his many pockets and….

"How did you escape," Cyborg muttered in a deathly whisper.

"I do not need to tell you my abilities," Blood said. He smiled as his arm transformed into a cannon-like object. He pointed it at the Titans and shot it at them just as the force field dissipated. The four teens managed to evade the red beam of energy.

"YOU TOOK MY CANNON!?" Cyborg shouted, blood boiling from anger. His right arm formed into an appendage similar to the cannon Blood had just used.

"This is _my_ creation, Tin Man." Blood said, "It's an ionization chamber, not _your_ sonic cannon."

Cyborg's anger vanished immediately, "That's bad." He managed to mutter. Blood aimed and charged his cannon at Cyborg. "RUN!!" Cyborg shouted as he leaped away from the red beam that struck the floor where he had been standing moments before.

Beast Boy, Starfire and Moya took Blood's lapse in concentration to their advantage. Starfire and Moya combined their abilities and formed a massive energy attack that they threw at Blood. He evaded and fired at the new threat only to have the beam go awry as Beast Boy pounced on him as a muscular panther. Blood grabbed Beast Boy by the neck and threw him with as much strength as he could muster….

Robin threw the explosive disks at Slade. Slade had seen the move as though it were in slow motion. He punched Robin in the chest, knocking the wind out of his skinny body. The sheer force of the blow threw Robin into the nearest wall. Slade used his staff to send the explosives back to Robin where they exploded on the wounded teen; smoke was everywhere. When it cleared….

Beast Boy slammed into a wall, a loud snap was heard. The green panther transformed back into Beast Boy, his right shoulder dangled like wet paper. Starfire's eyes flared a bright green and she charged her energy to proportions that seemed reckless to a stray bystander. She blasted Blood with a barrage of starbolts that he evaded then she let forth a blast of energy from her eyes. Blood failed to realize that the young alien girl could accomplish such a feat and was blasted by her thermonuclear energy.

Blood emerged unharmed and secret compartments opened up and revealed missiles upon missiles, he fired each and every one. The explosions mingled with one that was not in the current room they were in. Starfire, easily evaded the missiles themselves but she remained well within the blast radius as the missiles exploded. She fell onto the floor as fire and burning gases consumed her. Beast Boy transformed into a hardy turtle and prayed to whatever gods were listening that he would not die on this night. He did not get to pray long as blissful darkness greedily consumed him. Cyborg was startled as an indigo sphere of some sort enveloped him and Moya.

Moya released them from their only shield and they charged at the _thing_ that could very well end their lives. Blood charged his cannon; red energy glowed from the opening as it fired at….

Robin could barely breathe. His chest ached every time he drew breath. His eyes stung so much that he was forced to keep them closed. He heard the grinding of rubble and shattered masonry as someone walked to his prone form; all he could do was pray to the gods that it was a friend trying to help him.

A rough and powerful hand clasped his neck and lifted him up with ease. A dull grinding sound echoed through his chest as broken ribs grated against each other. Robin let out a small moan of pain and even that small action sent waves of agony across his chest.

He heard what Slade was saying as though they were on opposite sides of a field, "Perhaps you are one of the weak who will perish when I save this world. I have no more use for you. You played your part; quite well too, I might add."

Slade loosened his grip on the teen and watched him fall painfully onto the broken floor. Robin felt agonizing pressure on his chest as a metal boot put stepped on his chest. He felt more than heard the sound of flesh tearing; he knew that a broken rib had just punctured its way out of his rib cage and into the cold, biting air. The bittersweet tang of blood reached his mouth as a lung slowly filled up with his own life giving blood and leaked out onto the broken floor of the museum….

The red beam of nuclear energy streaked towards Moya, he put up an indigo shield that barely held up against the onslaught. Cyborg charged his cannon and fired at point blank range, the vibrations of air and metal stung the biological ear of the half human. He gritted his teeth and continued to fight the dazed form of Blood.

Moya fought off the remnants of ionized energy and sent a salvo of indigo energy at Blood. Cyborg hit the deck as the vicious energy tore at Blood's armor. Blood staggered back a few steps, burn marks were clearly visible on his armor. Cyborg sprang up out of his prone position and fired another direct shot at Blood; Blood flew into the air and nimbly landed on a balcony.

"I underestimated you," Blood said, "I won't do it again." He charged his ion cannon and said, "I don't think even _I _could escape this…"

An inferno of red, ionized energy engulfed the room. The entire right side of the museum that they were in vanished under the ionized force of the cannon that blasted them. When the red smoke cleared, a wheezing Moya had placed an indigo shield on the floor that saved the four teens from imminent destruction.

"Another thing like Raven," Blood said, "I should have known…"

Moya fell onto all fours as he gasped for life giving oxygen. Blood said, "I suppose that we will have to settle this the old fashioned way." He turned his cannon back into a hand and charged at Cyborg.

Cyborg barely dodged and attacked with a powerful right hook. Blood evaded and drop kicked him. Cyborg flew into the air and Blood landed nimbly. Cyborg quickly got back up and charged at Blood. The two met in a fierce gridlock and electrocuted Cyborg with his left hand. Cyborg collapsed, smoke rising off his mechanical body; his cybernetic components flickered before they turned off. Slade slowly walked into the room and seen the slaughter that Blood had done.

"Nice job, Head Master," Slade said to Blood, "I didn't think that you could do this to the Teen Titans. You should punish your students more often when they don't produce results."

"I will take that into consideration," Blood said to Slade, "what of the magic user?" he asked.

"Leave him," Slade said coldly, "he is of no threat to us anymore and we already have what we came for." Slade and Brother Blood left the broken museum, leaving the Titans to meet the Reaper as their life was slowly stripped from them….


	4. AUTHOR'S NOTE

Okay, people. My computer died again and I am stuck withthe word pad that comes with Windows XP Professional. I really need help, the quick editthat is here on me from using non-letter charatcers. The formatting is all messed up now, as yoiu can easily tell,if anyone knows how to fix this problem, please let me know. You guys should know my E-mail address if not, visit my profile; that'll tell you all you need to know.


	5. ANNIHILATION

CHRONICLES OF AZARATH

CHAPTER FOUR

Annihilation

Azrael walked down the corridors of the uninviting castle that he had once called his home. The gold runes that lined the walls, floor and ceiling flared silver as they tried to suppress the magical aura that was Azrael and failed. He walked briskly towards the spire that once held his king. There was no resistance as he walked down the warded hall, they were expecting him and they expected him to fail at what he hoped to accomplish.

He continued to walk down the hall and soon he found himself at a grand double door entrance that was made out of wood but not of any known wood. There were silver runes and symbols on the two doors that seemed to make any sentient life form that approached calmer in both mind and spirit.

The warrior burst through the grand entry way shouted, _"Karo zu facias grё féy açwe _Akaröth." Your reign of terror ends here Akaröth.

The king in question stood up from his golden throne that was decorated in jade pictograms and spoke in a language that even the Azarathians considered ancient. He was wearing the finest robes of a black reflective material that had red runes and characters elegantly printed on the fabric of the material. His hair was silver and reached down to his waist. His skin was of fair complexion and his vibrant orange eyes scanned the intruder that was known as Azrael with acute precision as he sized up his opponent.

Azrael answered in the same ancient language that Akaröth had used, he was one of the few left alive that actually knew the language. Akaröth smiled and discarded his fine robe and weapons, Azrael did the same. Akaröth slowly walked up to his opponent and with lightning speed, he was upon Azrael in a moment.

Azrael managed to dodge the unarmed strike and formed spheres of black energy around his palms. He attempted to attack at direct range with his energy but only managed to block a vicious attack from his "king." Akaröth used his unknown form of magic to enhance his physical abilities ten fold. He used his newfound agility and attacked Azrael with a powerful right hook.

Azrael flew the length of the throne room and slammed into the beautifully decorated pearly white marble wall. As he wrenched himself from the indention of the wall, he coughed up blood. He managed to duck as an energy-covered fist slammed into the spot he once was. Azrael twisted in a most unnatural manner as he dropkicked his enemy. He stood up as Akaröth used the opposite wall as a launch pad; a loud pop issued from his spine as he put it back into its original configuration.

Azrael put up a black energy shield as Akaröth came rushing toward him. As the two super powers met, stray bolts of power leaped off the shield that Azrael fought to hold. He dived to the right, abandoned his shield and formed a sword of pure black energy. He struck at Akaröth who used his arm to block the attack; blood spurted from the wound as the energy blade stopped halfway through his arm.

The King narrowed his eyes as he examined his shocked adversary. He whispered in a language that was common on his home planet, "You should know that this does not hurt me." He took advantage of his enemy's lapse of concentration and brought his energy-covered fist into the gut of his rebel subject. As Azrael flew into the magnificent wooden doors, he summoned the Sword of Dark Demise and let its power flow over him.

As Akaröth slowly walked toward his next victim, Azrael summoned his sword and charged toward the king that had started the mess he was in. The foreigner blocked the assault on him with well-practiced ease. He quickly released them from the block and sharply pierced Azrael's side then followed through with a blast of strange, raw magic.

Azrael struggled to get up, blood was pouring from the wound that was healing slower than normal. Akaröth pointed a finger at his enemy and he was transported into a pocket dimension. Strange magics were at work here as they attacked him from all directions, the color of each magic was different and confused him slightly. Suddenly, they gathered into his heart and the area around him went black. Then the focused magic exploded in a myriad of colors and transported him back to his native plane.

Azrael wheezed as he got up from the unknown magical attack. His body _burned _with leftover pain. Akaröth loomed over him and said, "That should have killed you." He shook his head and struck the prone form of Azrael across his head with the flat of his powerful blade.

Azrael slowly and painfully woke up. His slowly focusing vision told him that he was in a chamber that had not been used in a long time, not since his King came into power. It looked like it had been hastily cleaned and made ready for something. Then he realized what this room had been used for as he seen a chain glint in the dim light.

"You are awake," the King whispered softly. He made a small gesture with his hand and the lights blared to life. "You will tell me where the other four Keys are." He said again in the same deathly whisper.

As a form of reply, Azrael spat in his face. "IMPUDENCE!" Akaröth shouted and gouged out a hefty piece of flesh from Azrael's shoulder with a small dagger that he held in his hand. Azrael snarled in pain, the large lump of bleeding flesh fell to the floor unnoticed; his arm slowly regenerated the missing tissue.

"As I thought," Akaröth said to him, "you have already lost everything dear to you." He muttered something and Azrael was transported to a distant memory that did not belong to him.

Achaté stood her ground as Varuna loomed closer to her. He gathered magic into his palm and attacked with out regard to his own safety and as a result, he had the upper hand. Achaté blocked the vicious energy with a green shield, all she wanted to do was keep him busy long enough for her lover to get Moya off world, after that, she did not really care.

The energy that she was blocking proved too much for her green shield and it broke down under the onslaught. She slowly got up as she recovered. She stood resolute, not wanting to yield to him for as long as she could then go beyond that. She formed more of her green energy into spheres around her palms ant sent a volley of it toward her adversary.

Varuna took the attack head on and smiled, the blow of magical energy did little to harm him. He formed his black energy into the shape of a sword and rushed up toward the woman that defied him. Achaté formed another green shield and put more energy than she thought she had in maintaining the powerful shield. Energy cackled and sparked as the two forces fought for dominance.

The green shield fizzled out and the black sword hit delicate flesh. Achaté cried out in pain as her arm was severed and burned shut. Varuna abandoned his sword and his hand was enveloped in black energy. He plunged his magically enhanced hand through the chest of his enemy. Achaté cried out in immeasurable pain; the hand of Varuna clasped the still beating heart of the woman that defied him.

Achaté choked as a torrent of blood escaped past her lips and covered her mouth. Varuna wrenched his hand out of Achaté, magically tearing her heart out of her living body, she gurgled more of her life giving blood out of her mouth. Varuna looked at his prize: the still beating heart of the woman that defied him. He smiled as his lust for blood was quenched—for the moment. Achaté fell to the ground, her body convulsing as she bled internally, her mouth spewed blood as her eyes slowly glazed over as death claimed her.

"Stop," Azrael slowly said as the memory faded away.

"Then tell me where the other Keys are!" Akaröth snapped.

"NEVER!!" Azrael shouted, anger causing his blood to boil.

Akaröth smiled and transported Azrael to the moment where Achaté met her end. "Stop…" Azrael said his voice barely audible.

"I will," Akaröth said with a sneer, "if you tell me where the other Keys are."

Azrael sighed in defeat. "Tamaran. I know that one Key is there. I know not where the others are at."

"Those peace loving fools?" Sephiroth asked himself, "I would have never known.…" Akaröth plunged the dagger into the body of Azrael and used a strange magic on him that lulled him into the realm of nightmares.

Strange crafts landed on the planet known as Tamaran. The human shaped people that exited the crafts were all wearing the deepest shade of black that was conceivably possible. They skulked through the shadows as though they were at one with them. When they reached the gates of the magnificent and splendidly lit castle, the robed figures blasted the door down with their magic.

There were terrified shouts as they inhabitants were attacked by strange beings. Akaröth shouted above the noise of the commotion, "KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!!"

Akaröth walked toward the statue that was at the end of the grand hallway. The statue was made of silver and the man's eyes were made out of a fine jade. The sword he was holding was made of silver and had pairs of stripes of gold that ran on the side of the sword. He was carrying a magnificent platinum shield that was polished so brightly that it looked like a mirror.

"The Shield of Tsarus," Akaröth whispered as he gazed at the shield in awe. He walked up to it and wrenched it out of the grasp of the statue. He easily fit the shield around his arm. He felt the magic that was endowed in the shield flow into his body. He felt at least twenty times stronger than he had before.

With his newfound endurance, Akaröth attacked anything that moved and was not from the world of Azarath.

"We shall leave a calling card," Akaröth said, "bring me the bodies of the dead Tamaraneans. We shall leave when I have finished."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Sorry about leaving you guys with such a short chapter. If I add any more, it will give away what Akaröth just did. I hope that you guys aren't too mad at me. Don't forget to review! Oh, please tell me if you think that this fiction has gone beyond the PG-13 limit. If it has, then I will change the rating as soon as I possibly can. If anyone has, problems with this story the can: A) Stop reading this story. B) Tell me what needs to be changed via e-mail/review and I will see to it that it is done. Or C) Just ignore the changes that need to be done and continue with their happy life by clicking on the Back button on their Browser.

If any of you see a problem so bad, in your opinion that this story needs to be removed, please E-mail me so that I can deal with the problem as fast as I can, just give me at least a week to fix it. I know that a week seems like a very long time but I do not know how often I will be able to access the internet, I am currently using my uncle's computer. My school has blocked e-mail from us students. The bastards.

Thank you for you time in reading this note,

Darkbusterrancher

6


	6. ANOTHER AUTHOR'S NOTE

Okay people, I am sorry to tell you guys this but I must. My floppy drive on my home computer died a few days ago. I am only able to type at school and it has blocked my e-mail account, damn bastards. I will try to get my story up as soon as possible, it may take a while so please bear with me. As a side note, I am giving you guys a poem that I wrote a while ago. I would like your feed back as to how it is and if it is any good, okay? Well, here goes:

Though I walk in the valley of shadows and death  
Behold!  
My faith is strong, it gives me breath  
I will not go!

The Dread Creatures in the night  
Their wispy fingers, their icy hold  
Take pleasure in my plight  
My unwavering faith, it is my sword

The shadows—they attack  
Relentless—they continue  
It is my faith that holds them back  
My weary soul fights with virtue

The valley of shadows and death closes in  
How much more can I take?  
My hope and my faith, they begin to thin  
My faith so cradled, begins to break

I weakly tell the shadows to go away  
I lie down, my cradled faith lay broken  
I rest; it's the only way…  
My body, useless, it remains a token

I let the Dread things take me  
Death, I embrace him, my former adversary  
My body withers, a fleeting dream, a memory  
Happily, I follow him to the Abyss, my soul is weary….


	7. ADVENT

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Teen Titans. I do hope that this story is entertaining to those few that are reading it. Again, I will ask this, if I need to change something due to rating or whatnot, tell me and I will get to it as soon as possible. Moreover, to those that have read this story with the format issues, I thank you for putting up with it. To those of you that may be wondering, this particular chapter is on earth, I won't tell you exactly when though, you'll just have to read the story.

A special thanks to Azarathgirl, Estel-Elf-Lover, Macduff's Mistress, and JuniorBins. You people reviewed my story before I had to redo my author account! Another special thanks to TeMpET, Voices-in-my-head0304, Gabecooper30 and Grumbumble! You people reviewed my story on my new author account.

Chronicles of Azarath

Chapter Five

ADVENT

"There is no difference between gods and mortals.

Both rise, both fall."—Azarathian proverb

The world was dark; there was nothing but the expanse of nothingness that seemed to expand in every direction for as far as the eye could see. The darkness was nearly tangible and pressed in on the senses like a massive, unrelenting weight. The hazy form of a person could be seen, it was trying to move through the inky depths of whatever was confining him.

He found it hard to move even his fingers; the pressure of the darkness was overwhelming him and constricted him psychologically. He was just about to give up, to give in to the depths that threatened to consume him, when he remembered that he could not give into the blissful state of nothingness.

He fought the bindings that bound him to void that tried to call itself his world. It pressed in on him even more, as though the more he struggled, the harder the dark fought back to keep its victim confined. He began to swim forward, slowly, inch by inch, the darkness had made itself into a tangible force; the syrupy strands clung onto him and halted his movement. His lungs were burning as though they were on fire, still he kept going forward.

The void relented; it was parting a distance away from him. A small light had formed somewhere above him, like a light at the end of the tunnel. He swam faster toward the small light that was slowly becoming bigger. His body was demanding air that would not come; he was inhaling the thick, glutinous slime that was slowly becoming thicker but was not clinging onto him. His lungs were filling up to capacity, he did not heed his body's call for air and with an almighty spur that used what remained of his strength, Robin woke up in the medical ward of Titans Tower.

The saddened form of Starfire glided into the medical room to check on Robin for the fifth time that day. She had been worried sick about her leader ever since she had been told that he was in a coma and had a chance of never waking up from it. She walked over to his bed with her eyes closed, due to her many times there from constantly checking on Robin, she practically had it memorized. She picked up Robin's pale, clammy hand and held it close to her heart.

"Robin," she nearly whined, "please wake up…." Silent tears began to trickle from her closed eyes. One fell onto Robin's hand.

Robin felt his hand be picked up, he tried to make a sound but nothing came. He heard her plea to him and again forced himself to answer, a small sound came from his throat but it was not able to reach the ears of Starfire. He felt her tear fall onto his hand and with what seemed to be all of his strength; he squeezed her hand as best as he could.

Starfire felt Robin's hand squeeze hers but only just. She turned her tear streaked face toward him, opened her emerald green eyes and saw that Robin had awoken. Her heart swelled with joy and she exclaimed, "Robin, you are awake!"

Robin put on his best smile; that was all he could manage in his exhausted state. Cyborg came to check on Robin at this moment. He seen his leader was awake and a wave of relief flowed through the half human.

"It's good to see you awake man," Cyborg said to his friend and comrade, "Moya did his best to keep you alive, Slade really did a number on you."

Robin did his best to smile at his friend, but all that came was a small tug at the corners of his mouth. "Save your strength," Cyborg said to him, "just focus on getting better."

Robin did his best to nod, but managed to do nothing. His eyes said that he understood. Starfire gave one last look at her friend, turned to face Cyborg and she said quietly, "I will stay with him for a little longer." Cyborg smiled a little, nodded and left the medical ward.

Starfire looked at Robin; he had tubes going into his nose, an IV going into his arm, the steady drip of the clear liquid made silent noise as it fell. He did not have a shirt on, instead there were bandages; a slight red tint was visible through them. She saw that he was asleep again. She stood up, placed his hand back on his bed and whispered to him, "Sleep well, Robin." She walked out of the room, gave one last look at Robin and turned off the light as she walked out of the medical ward.

As Starfire floated out of the medical ward, her heart swelled with joy, her Robin had woken up! She paused for a moment and wondered where that thought had come from. "My Robin…." She repeated quietly to herself. She had a large smile plastered on her face as she walked down the hall to go toward the kitchen.

When she got there, she walked in on an intense argument about what lunch should be that day. Moya was demanding that he be able to make lunch, Cyborg was saying that he should make lunch and Beast Boy was trying to get his opinion about no meat involved. Both Moya and Cyborg promptly shot down his choice. Raven was nowhere to be seen.

The young spell caster was rarely seen outside of her room. She seldom aided the rest of the Titans on missions. Moya had taken her place each time by saying that she was not feeling well. This had gotten many odd looks from the active members of the Titans, but they did not press for further information. Moya had proved to be a great asset; he pushed his body to the limit on each encounter and usually pushed himself to the point of exhaustion, or beyond.

On this rare day of relative peace, Raven walked into the kitchen. She was humming a sad and happy tune to herself, which immediately silenced the argument. She went to the fridge, looked around for a moment, still keeping her sad and happy tune, and emerged a moment later with a box of leftovers from the night before. The Titans had ordered to a caterer because they were too tired to make dinner the night before. It turned out to be spaghetti made with a very thick mushroom sauce. She got a plate from the cabinet, poured the contents of her meal on it and went to the microwave to heat up her meal.

A rather confused Cyborg asked her, "Are you feeling better Rae?"

She looked at him, they noticed that she had a ghost of a smile on her lips, and answered him, "I am feeling better now."

In the odd silence that followed, the three arguers decided not to argue and make what they wanted themselves. Moya had decided to help Cyborg with lunch for the rest of them, which greatly displeased the green shape shifter. Moya was now in a quiet debate with the mechanical genius about what kind of meat and spices to use.

The strangely, happy form of Raven looked at the two quiet debaters with mild amusement. Starfire looked at the happy, young woman with interest. It had been a while since she had seen her friend this happy, in fact, she recalled, she had only been this way when Malchior had been teaching her. She looked at her on last time; she wanted to ask her something but did not want to at the same time. She sighed inwardly as she went to the fridge to make herself something to eat from her native planet.

When lunch had finally been made, it turned out that Cyborg and Moya had agreed on what they were going to do for lunch. Moya had ended up making the spices and Cyborg had selected the meat and cooked it the way he had wanted to. The Titans were actually surprised at how the meal tasted, it had the familiar taste of ribs, yet it held the unfamiliar taste that Moya had used to season the meat.

When the Titans finished their meal, Raven went to see how Robin was doing. No one had told her that he had awoken, they were too surprised that she was actually out of her room, and in a happy mood as well. When she walked into the medical ward, she turned on the light and seen that Robin was asleep. She sighed and thought to herself, 'I wonder if he will ever come out of his coma….' She turned off the light and lingered in the doorway for a few moments listening to the drone of the medical machines that had lined the room and had kept their leader alive, if you could call a 'coma' life. She sighed again, closed the door and went back to her room.

Beast Boy had finished his no-meat lunch and watched Raven walk off, still humming to herself. He went to his room, put on some swimming shorts and went out to the top of the tower for a relaxing swim. His mind was on the mysterious Titan known as Raven. Sure, he had hacked into her files on more than one occasion, but who could blame him? All he wanted to do was find out more information about his creepy friend. What he found was that most of her records were blacked out or stored on a paper file in a safe in Robin's room. Now that Moya was a Titan, he tried to hack into his files as well, with Cyborg's help of course.

All they had gotten was that he was from Azarath and that he knew Raven from his childhood. He bounced off the diving board and plunged into the cool depths of the pool. He swam under the water's surface for a moment and emerged from the bottom of the pool. He took a few deep breaths and resumed thinking about his friend and comrade. He had noticed that she had not been out of her room much ever since that encounter with her brother. Something from that encounter had changed her, what he did not know was what had caused her change in habits. On the rare occasions that she had been out of her room, she had been in various moods. This had not really surprised him much if not for the fact that generally each time she came out, she was either more depressed than usual or as happy Starfire. He watched a cloud pass over the sun and it cast a shadow on him as he swam. He floated on his back and continued to think about his friends from Azarath.

Once Cyborg had finished cleaning the mess that he had made, he went to his workshop. He was working on a new type of cannon. For once, he was copying someone else and he hated every moment of it. He gazed down at the metallic object that he had been modifying and smiled. It had taken him about two weeks to complete the task that he had given himself and it felt good that he had finally completed it. He took of his right hand and placed the cybernetic arm that he had made in its place.

He flexed his new hand and smiled, it was working properly so far. He made it transform into its cannon form, the end glowed a bright blue, and he smiled again. "Booya!" the ecstatic form of Cyborg shouted to himself, "If Cyborg can't build it, no one can!"

He went to his car and began to modify that as well. He lifted it by using his crane and went under it so that he could better work on hit. His mind was on his friend Raven. She had been acting stranger than normal during the past few weeks and the vague replies from their newest member, Moya, had been insubstantial. When he had pressed for more information, he got the same reply that she was not feeling good. He did not have enough information to form an adequate conclusion. He knew that Moya and Raven were working together to hide something, what he did not know was what. He continued to think about his friend as he worked on upgrading his car to the specifications that he had beset himself with.

Moya walked away from the lunch table and went to the training area of Titans Tower. He had set the drones that he was attacking on lethal rather than stun. He dodged a laser blast from one of the drones and fired a blast of indigo energy at it. The energy bolt reflected off his target, it seemed that Cyborg had equipped some of the drones with an energy field. He smiled; he needed to vent some frustration and these drones were the perfect things to do that on.

He charged his fists full of his indigo energy and charged full speed into the battle that he had set up. He blocked the laser fire that was heading for him with the energy on his hands. The bolts bounced harmlessly away, he pushed onward, the bots stood unrelenting and they formed tactics based on those of Moya. He changed what he was going to do, formed a massive wall of energy on the ground, and summoned tendrils of it skyward. The tendrils of indigo energy found their target and he quickly dismantled them in a few moments.

He turned his attention turned to that of Raven. He knew that she did not want to carry her brother's child, yet she was forced to due to their ties with life and death. He sighed and used his powers to put the drones back where they were, he did not put them back together; he did not know how Cyborg had managed to create them with the technology that Earth offered. He went to the lift and saw Cyborg go into his workshop, the spell caster decided to leave the half machine alone for the time being and go take a shower, he had gotten rather sweaty in the training area and he needed one.

Starfire had finished her meal and watched the other Titans walk off to do what they wanted on this day of relative peace. She went to check on Robin and seen Raven walk away from him. She waited for her friend to leave before she entered the medical ward. She turned on the light and seen that her Robin was still asleep. She floated next to him and softly said, "Sleep well, my Robin." She placed a small kiss on his forehead and floated out of the medical room. She floated to her room in a leisurely manner and went to a computer console.

She turned on the computer and the machine-like voice said, "No new messages." The young alien girl from Tamaran sighed, her guardian was usually busy, but he had never gone this long without sending her a message. She knew that something was amiss and she did not know what it was. She had already sent more than three messages telling him to contact her, and yet he had yet to respond to any of them.

She went on her bed and laid down on it. Unshed tears began to fill up in her emerald eyes; she knew that something was terribly, terribly wrong on her home planet. Just as she was about to curl herself into a ball and cry herself to sleep, she heard her computer console beep, signifying that she had received a message.

She wiped her eyes dry from the tears that had fallen on her face and went over to her to see what the message said. She turned it on and her mirror converted itself into a television screen of some sort. A gruff man appeared there, wounds covered him and his right arm was bandaged heavily; a red tint was visible through the white cloth. He looked in the transmitter and said gravely, "Princess Starfire, your people need you. We are at war with the Azarathians. They are formidable and they came without warning." He ducked low as a blast of purple energy zoomed above his head. "We need you here _now, _I don't know if we can—" His words were cut short by an explosion then silenced by static.

The young woman's eyes filled up with tears; she thought that her friend, Galfore, had been slain. She fell into a crumpled heap on her room's soft, plush carpet. In her fractured mind, the strong form of Robin wrapped his arms around her and comforted her. She curled herself into a ball and whispered to the empty room, "Thank you, Robin."

Robin woke up from his sleep in the medical ward. Surprisingly, he had regained some of his strength back. After a moments worth of effort, he managed to sit up. Immediately, he checked to see if his mask was still on, it was, and he gave a sigh of relief. He gritted his teeth in pain; he finally noticed that the pain relievers that were in his system were wearing off and that he would nearly kill someone for a cheeseburger.

He sighed, slower this time, and wondered where everyone was. He noticed a glass of water was on the nightstand that was next to his bed, next to the glass of water was a vase of flowers. He picked up the glass of water and drained it in a few gulps. He set the empty glass next to the flowers. He lay back down and thought about how much time had passed and went back to sleep.

(INTERMISSION!!! Okay readers, you are in for a long haul, so put on a pot of coffee and get some adult diapers. Or, go get a snack…. You got that snack? You do? Good, now back to the chapter!)

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Moya found himself the first one to be awake, or so he thought. He saw that Starfire was awake and eating some cereal, she was in a somber mood and unusually quiet. Having some empathetic abilities, he was able to feel a great sadness from within her.

He approached her and asked her in a quiet tone, "Are you alright? You seem more quiet than usual…."

She swallowed the last bit of food that was in her mouth and said slowly, "Your kind have invaded my planet." Hardened anger was in her voice.

He gazed in shock at what she said. "Akaröth must have rallied them for battle," Moya said as he plopped himself down on a chair across from where she sat. "We must go there at once," he declared to her.

She looked at him and asked, "What about Robin, who will take care of him when we are gone?"

"I will heal him," Moya said to her after a moment of silence.

She looked at him as though he had just said something foul. She glared at him as she stood up and asked in a growl as her eyes burned green with anger, "Why did you not heal him before?"

He looked at her and replied in a casual manner, "If I did, he would have never come out of the coma. His anatomy and mental functions are slightly different from those of an Azarathian. My healing magic will have some skewed effects on him. It was all I was able to do to keep him alive, let alone mentally stable."

She sat back down, slightly relieved that Robin could be healed and able to join them in their endeavor to retake her planet from the siege of Akaröth. Starfire put her bowl in the sink and walked off to go do something by herself.

Moya sat in silence, Starfire and Cyborg had told the rest of the Titans that Robin had awoken; Raven was not present for the engagement, thus he had told her when he had brought her dinner. As he thought in silence, the half-awake form of Beast Boy wandered into the kitchen, made himself a bowl of cereal and started eating as though he were a machine set on automatic.

When he put his bowl away, he finally noticed the silent form of Moya. He asked him in a mildly sleepy tone, "When did you get here?"

"I have been here since before you got here," Moya said to him in a neutral voice that did not reveal what he thought of Akaröth's invasion of Tamaran.

Beast Boy looked confused, "I didn't see you when I came here to make myself some breakfast…."

"You were too tired to notice my presence," the spell caster replied, "now if you excuse me, I must go." He got up out of his chair and walked out of the kitchen leaving a very confused Beast Boy behind.

"Uh…." Beast Boy muttered as he watched the retreating form of Moya walk away.

When Cyborg ordered everyone to go to his harsh training session, with Robin out of commission, he was in command, Starfire told him of her worries. He immediately cancelled all previous engagements, told Titans East what was going on and gave them explicit orders to be on their highest alert and make sure that Titans West had someone posted in the tower from their team.

Moya walked into the medical ward and saw that the glass of water next to Robin's bed was empty. He walked up to the sleeping form of Robin as his right hand became enveloped in indigo energy; he let the energy envelop Robin and penetrate his body so that his bones were the only things visible. The massive amount of energy did not seem to hurt the patient since all he did was shift his position and mutter something under his breath that sounded oddly similar to Starfire's name. Moya focused on his energy and slowly mended Robin's bones back together and healed his punctured flesh back to optimum efficiency. He let the energy flow into Robin further to heal any damage that he may have incurred during his coma.

He relinquished his control over his energy and it vanished from sight in an instant. He gently shook his friend awake and brought him to the realm of the living. With a groan and a mutter, the once sleeping form of Robin awoke. He blinked rapidly a few times due to the slightly bright light that's that had been equipped in the medical ward and to clear his head of the sleep that he had been robbed of.

The Azarathian looked at his leader and like an angel without a sense of mercy; he told his friend what had happened. "Robin," he said to him quietly, "Starfire's home has been invaded by Akaröth. We leave in a few hours; Cyborg needs to ready the T-ship. Get ready quickly, I have repaired all the damage to your body, you are as strong as you were when you faced Slade."

Moya left him and went to tell Raven what had happened; when he left the kitchen to tell their mechanical friend what had transpired, Starfire had beat him to it. He had been told who Slade was by Cyborg while Robin was in his coma. As he walked down the hall to go to Raven's room, he met Beast Boy.

Moya stopped and said to him, "Get ready for a long ride, Akaröth has invaded Tamaran and we are going to provide aide. We may not be back for a while, so if you have any important long-term business you may have, see to it that it is taken care of. We leave in a few hours." He left Beast Boy to his own devices and left to go to his friend's room.

Beast Boy watched his friend go. The information he was just given had disturbed him greatly. The way Moya had told him made it seem as though they were not going to be coming back, and if they were, someone may not come back alive. By now, he had reached his messy room. He sighed, pulled out some paper, a pen and began to write something.

He paused, the pen was poised just above the piece of paper and he had yet to write a single word. In his young and relatively innocent mind, he thought, "I know I won't come back alive. I'm not that powerful, I can't throw energy bombs, fight like Robin or fire sonic blasts, but I can make people laugh. That's a power, right?' He squashed all his doubts and finally wrote his first two words: Dear Terra.

Raven was sitting upright in her bed. Her room was dark, the curtain were up to block out the sun as well. She was looking at her stomach; she could feel the fragile life that was growing inside her body. Her powers were now acting on her force of will rather than her emotions. The ceremony that Kami had conducted for her had altered her abilities so that they worked on her force of will rather than emotionally driven, though her anger drove them as well. This was the price that all Azarathians paid to access their magical potential.

The _Erths _had found a way around this dilemma a long time ago, though anger still dictated their powers, at least they could freely experience joy, happiness, compassion and other emotions without locking them away by meditation.

When she had finally accepted the fact that she was forced to carry her brother's child, she had vowed to give her child a better life than the one that she had experienced. She, for Raven hoped that her child was a girl, was not going to know what her life had been like while she grew up. Even though she may not have a father to look up to, she was going to do her best to provide for her child.

A bright, indigo hue illuminated her darkened room. She knew that it was Moya who had entered her domain and smiled at him. She watched him walk up to her bed and open the curtain with his magic. Warm, summer sunlight filtered in from her window and immediately warmed and brightened up her room.

Moya looked at him and said to her in a solemn tone, "Akaröth has invaded Tamaran. We are leaving in a few hours and we are going to need all the help we can get."

She nodded at his statement; she was surprised by this as well; nothing of importance was on Tamaran. They were a peace loving people, but when forced to fight, they could become a deadly force to be reckoned with. Azarathians had paid the price for the magic long ago, the desolate wasteland of a home had been more than enough, but they had been cursed with powers that fed off emotions as well. The Azarathians also had another curse on them as well, they could not leave their planet, for them to violate that seal, and nothing good could come of it.

"What could be there that Akaröth wants?" she asked her long time friend, confusion clearly evident on her face.

"I do not know," Moya replied, "it could be that he has found a Key there."

Raven was quiet; she knew that she was going to help her friends. She looked at Moya again and said to him, "Can you get out, I need to change…."

He nodded and made an indigo portal on her door. Just before he left, he said to her, "We may be gone for a while; I suggest that you bring extra clothes and such."

She nodded at his advice as he left and began to change into some casual clothing that went with her cape. She was wearing a nightgown since she had yet to change into something else. As she changed, she was wondering on how to tell the rest of the Titans that she was pregnant. She sighed at her dilemma and wondered if she should just keep her child a secret from the other Titans.

Cyborg was working on the T-Ship. He was making the necessary adjustments for deep space since the last time they had used it; it was reconfigured for underwater use. He was working quickly as he could; he wanted to help his alien friend as soon as he possibly could. He had converted the engines of the T-Ship so that they were capable of interstellar space travel. An alien diplomat that he had protected from the United States Air Force gave the hyperdrive engines that he had assimilated to the ship to him. It had been a simple misunderstanding and Cyborg settled it without incident and without much involvement of the media.

He gazed out at the fueling T-Ship and then at his watch, it was about twenty minutes until the launch was going to commence. He had rigged their alarm system in their Tower to warn the other Titans that the T-Ship was going to launch in twenty minutes. The fuel pump was on an automatic setting, so he left to go to his room and gathered what he needed; his recharger had been reconfigured to absorb Starfire's thermonuclear energy as well as continue to use solar energy and its small chemical energy that was stored in it.

When he returned, he saw that everyone was there with the things that were needed for him or her. "You feeling up to this?" he had asked Robin when he saw him in his uniform. He was carrying nearly every single one of his gadgets in a large case that he had constructed to hold his gizmos.

"I am," he replied to the half-mechanical warrior, "Moya healed me back to my old self." Before Cyborg left to put everyone else's stuff away into the bowels of the T-Ship, he asked him, "How long was I out?"

"Twenty-three days," was all Cyborg had said to him. It was perfectly clear that this was a touchy subject to the rest of the Titans as well, so he let the matter drop and helped Cyborg load up the ship.

Once everything was properly loaded on the T-Ship, Cyborg let Titans East know that they were leaving and gave them the encryption keys via encoded transmission. When the countdown reached zero, the T-Ship blasted off from the launch pad in Titans Tower. The Titans strained against the massive G-forces that accompanied take off.

Once free from the confines of Earth's gravity, the depleted, bulky liquid rocket fuel tanks separated from the T-Ship and Cyborg put the ship into the warped view of hyperspace; the stars formed starlines and the starlines formed the muddled view of hyperspace.

From inside her pod, Starfire asked Vyborg via radio link, "How long until we reach the planet of Tamaran?"

"About fourteen hours," Cyborg replied to her, "give or take a few."

Starfire nodded to herself. Beast Boy exclaimed, "FOURTEEN HOURS!? FOURTEEN HOURS!? I can't wait that long!"

"Dude," the mechanical genius said to the green shape shifter, "I told you to go to the bathroom before we left. There better not be any accidents in my spaceship or you're gonna pay!" The half-human said to him, he was seething in anger.

Moya looked at the commotion from inside his pod. In a mad scramble, Cyborg added the newly constructed pod to the T-Ship so that Moya could join them. He had not counted on needing the T-Ship so soon after Moya became part of their team. Moya watched the scene that Beast Boy and Cyborg were making with slight amusement. He turned toward Raven, she was silent. This was not uncommon for her, but he knew why she was silent and did not want to disturb her with idle chitchat.

'It feels good to be back on duty,' thought Robin. He was sitting in the front pod and had view screens that depicted what each Titan was currently doing. He guessed that Cyborg had added Moya to their team during his coma because he added a pod to the ship just for him. Raven was silent as usual, though in casual clothes rather than her leotard, and he noticed that Starfire was in a somber mood as well. He saw that Cyborg and Beast Boy were in an argument of some sort. He was able to see what they were doing, but did not intrude on what they said to each other.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

"Do not harm that girl!" The angry voice of Moya shouted above the pandemonium of explosions and screams of battle. Rage was clearly apparent in his voice.

"What if I do?" A cold, malicious voice asked. The faint whimpers of a girl could be heard.

"I will slay you," Moya said resolutely.

"I highly doubt that," he whispered in a deadly calm. A dead silence came over the two and the explosions in the background echoed silently.

The sound of rending flesh bit into he air and a clearly feminine scream hacked through the air and pierced the ears of all those that were present.

"Starfire!!" Robin shouted through the communication link, "STARFIRE!!" he shouted again. It was at this moment that the young alien girl realized that she had been the one screaming.

She stopped screaming and began to breathe deeply in an effort to calm herself down. "Are you alright?" Robin asked his friend.

She nodded into the view screen that depicted Robin. She turned her gaze toward the vast expanse of space. She knew that she had fallen asleep while they were traveling. A faint green and blue mass was approaching and getting larger by the moment. Her heart swelled, her home planet was near and she would finally be able to see her homeland again. She was finally home.

The ship rocked violently….

Alarms blared….

An explosion….

Cracking glass….

Free fall….

Darkness….

Life Support System Check…. 93 percent undamaged, 7 percent damaged. System Report: System functioning within limits, minor repairs needed.

Hydraulic System Check…. 80 percent undamaged, 20 percent damaged. System Report: System functioning within limits, moderate repairs needed.

Weapon/defense System Check…. SYSTEM OFFLINE, EXTREEM DAMAGE TAKEN! REPAIR IMMEDIATELY!

Power System Check…. PRIMARY POWER CORE DAMAGED! REPAIR IMMEDIATELY!

Auxiliary Power Core: ONLINE.

Approximate Power Remaining: 00:25:36

With a groan, Cyborg woke up. He was looking up into the canopy of trees of a strange rain forest. The leaves of the trees were a mixed hue of deep purple and bright green. What could be seen of the sky was a light pink-blue color. He looked at himself and saw that a piece of the T-Ship had pierced his chest armor and nearly tore it clean off. Some of his circuitry was visible and a blue crystal-like node was emitting sparks at random times through a crack that ran the length of it.

He removed the shard of metal from his chest and looked at his cannon arm; it was dented in many places and had a long sliver of glass sticking out from inside it. He sighed and removed the sliver of glass. As he looked around him, he saw the shattered remains of his pod; it had separated by itself. He walked up to it and immediately knew that it was beyond repair. He went inside the pod and dismantled the components so that he could repair himself with them. He rigged his auxiliary power cell to work on the power that remained in the pod.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

When Robin came to, he saw that the cockpit did not open on its failsafe function. He kicked it open, it flew and crashed on the floor where it shattered, any longer in the atmosphere, and he may not have been alive at all. Robin hopped out of the crashed ship and saw that Moya, Raven and Cyborg's pod was missing. The emergency failsafe systems had activated and they should be somewhere near their current location if the computers had calculated the trajectories properly.

Starfire hauled herself out of her cockpit and saw Robin looking around. Her right arm hurt tremendously; she looked at her injured arm and saw that it was clearly broken. She steadied herself as she walked and found it difficult to balance. She shook her head to clear the ringing out of her ears; she regained her balance as the ringing slowly stopped. "Robin!" she nearly cried with relief, "You are alright!"

"A few bumps and bruises, nothing to—" her saw her damaged arm and immediately cut his sentence short. "You're not okay," he said to her as he ran up to her, "let me help you." He pulled out something from his utility belt and made a makeshift sling for his alien friend.

"Thank you," she said to him as he finished.

"You're welcome," he replied to her as he went up to examine Beast Boy's pod. He found the green shape shifter upside down and out cold as well. He sighed and proceeded to wake up his friend.

Beast Boy groaned as Robin took him from the gentle embrace of sleep. "Where'd that bus come from?" he muttered to himself as he became more aware of himself and his surroundings as well.

"We were shot down," Robin corrected him as he helped him out of the damaged cockpit.

The green shape shifter muttered something incoherently and shakily got out of his pod with Robin's help. He shook his head and when he was awake enough, he asked his leader, "Where are the others?"

"I don't know," he said to him, "Radio transmissions are impossible with the amount of jamming on this planet."

"How do you know that?" Beast Boy asked again.

"Trust me," Robin said dismally, "I know."

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Moya blasted the unrelenting cockpit covering off. He had been trying to push it open for a few minutes and it had not budged. During the crash landing, he had made a shield around himself and the intense heat of reentry melded his damaged pod together into one mass of metal and electrical circuitry. He got out of the smoking wreckage and saw a pillar of black smoke not far away.

Moya quickly flew off to the source of the smoke and found a pod. He flew down to it and saw the smoking remains of what was once a state-of-the-art cockpit. Someone had put out the fire that had been there. He looked around for any sign of the pilot and found Raven's cape clasp. He looked around for any other sign of her and found none.

Moya went into a massive, tropical tree that was undamaged from the pod's crash landing and began to meditate. His mind was calling out to the Titans, though he sought out Raven most of all. He did not want her or her unborn child harmed. He concentrated further and looked for only her now. His floating body would have been an easy target, if it were not for the thick foliage of the tropical tree he was sitting in.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O

She hit her head hard against the control console. The flames were getting warmer as they found more things to burn. She could not concentrate on her spells due to her pounding head. The black smoke was getting thicker and chocking her as the lack of oxygen made her headache worse as each second passed. With her mind clouded and her vision fading quickly, she struggled to get out of the death trap that was her pod.

The red and yellow flames began to lick her body as a figure pulled the pod's smoke-darkened windshield off the smoking wreckage. He pulled out an object that hissed a white, steam-like substance and quelled the flames inside. Raven was unconscious from oxygen deprivation; blood was steadily trickling down the side of her face. Her pale skin was a bright red where the fire had touched her. The figure picked her up, did his best not to further injure her, and walked away with her in his arms. Without knowing it, her cape clasp fell onto the floor.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Cyborg finished the repairs to himself. Parts of him were different shades of grey since he had used metal from the irreparable pod as replacement parts and armor. He had also reconfigured the pod's power core to work as his primary power source. His plasma cannon was fixed since the necessary replacement parts were once part of the pod's laser weaponry; the hydraulic fluid that was once in the pod was now in Cyborg, this allowed his movement systems to function as normally as they could.

He looked into his transmission arm and turned it on. "YO!!" he called into it, "Titans! Anyone there?" the response that he got was warped static. He tried again and all he got was the same result.

He looked skyward, the thick trees blocked out his view of the sky. He walked forward and left the stripped pod behind him. He managed to salvage his recharger and carried it with him. All of his unnecessary systems were shut down in order to save energy; the jamming of radio waves was somehow scrambling his targeting systems as well; this did not bother him, he hardly ever used it.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Beast Boy, Robin and Starfire walked away from what remained of the T-Ship; the crash had damaged it beyond repair. They were not worried about not going home, they were worried about their friend. As they walked through the alien forest, they saw that a battle had taken place not long ago. The trees were still smoking where laser, magic or starbolts had hit them. In some places, the huge, alien trees still had glowing embers on them.

In the distance, a battle was raging on; it was the same battle that had passed through the trees that they had passed not more than a few moments ago. When they reached the battle, they saw that it was a bloody and grueling one indeed. What remained of the Tamaraneans, were fighting the massive front of Azarathians that had amassed in the forest. The thermonuclear forces of the launched starbolts were being deflected by the strange magics of their foes.

In close quarters combat, the Tamaraneans proved to be more than a challenge for their foes; the massive strength of them could easily rend flesh asunder. A massive man was fighting with a halberd; the strange blade eerily cut through the magical shields that his foes used to protect themselves with. The re-curved blade tore through delicate flesh like a hot knife through butter. It was clearly visible that this one man had protected them for so long. Their dwindling numbers were testament to his strength, for without this one man, what resistance that the Tamaraneans put up, would have been squashed long ago.

It seemed that the Azarathians had devised strange means of capture, it appeared as though they were not killing the Tamaraneans outright; rather, they seemed intent on capturing them for an unknown reason. This fact did not make them any less of an obstacle, the magics that they were using were far more potent than what the Titans had seen Raven use.

Robin knew that standing by idly was not going to help anyone. He shouted, "Titans, GO!" and charged into the fray. He threw his Birdarangs with extreme precision and they scored a direct hit, his target was promptly cut down by a salvo of starbolts. In the aftermath of the explosion, a bloody pulp remained and it hit the ground with an ignored thud.

Beast Boy obeyed Robin's orders without question. He charged in as a creature that Earth had not seen in more than sixty-five million years, a tyrannosaurus rex. He roared as he charged and bit down on an Azarath, it was pummeled into his massive, outstretched mouth by a barrage of starbolts. He bit down as hard as he could, his razor sharp teeth sliced the creature that was there into shredded strips, he ignored the fact that he had just ate a sentient creature due to the fact that he was needed to fight and had to do his best to stay alive for Terra….

Starfire flew out to help her people. Her eyes were blazing a bright green as she charged up her energy and formed potent spheres of nuclear energy around her hand. She unleashed it at someone that was about to inflict a finishing blow to one of her people. The massive volley sent her into a green t-rex's mouth where she heard her scream as Beast Boy tore her asunder and spit out the red remains of what was once a sentient creature.

The massive man negated a blast of magical energy that was headed straight for Starfire, his halberd proved to be an extremely anti-magical weapon, the blade glowed silver as it negated the blast. He looked at her in disbelief. He wrapped his massive arms around her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.

"Starfire," he said to her, "I thought that you would never come home…."

"GALFORE!" she exclaimed as she returned his hug, "I thought that you had perished!"

"It takes more than a few bumps and bruises to take me down," he replied to her as he moved them to avoid more spells.

They saw an Azarathian fight back against his own kind. the indigo energy was stronger than the red of his foe. The target of the spell was blasted backward and into a tree. After what seemed like a few minutes, which was, actually a few hours, what remained of the Azarathians that had been sent to retrieve the Tamaraneans left to go lick their wounds. The alliance traveled further into the forest and made a temporary camp, twilight was fast approaching and they were exhausted from the arduous task of defending a planet during an invasion.

O-O-O-O-O-O

Cyborg wandered the jungle alone. He had been wondering for ages and he wondered if he was going in circles. He had yet come across any sign of the other Titans and this made him wonder if he had been knocked way off course by the explosion that had split apart the T-Ship. As he walked, he noticed that the trees that were around him had the markings of battle on them

The forces that had been inflicted on the trees were both magical and thermo-nuclear alike; he knew that they had been made by both starbolts and spells due to his training sessions with Starfire and Raven. As he walked onward, he noticed that the jungle was becoming more and more devastated by battle. He came across a patch of jungle whose trees had been torn down by battle; a path was clearly visible and marked where the main part of the battle had been fought.

He looked around some more and found tracks leading into a less damaged part of the jungle. Having nothing else to do, he followed them and soon came across the dim light of a campfire. He approached the light with caution; he had long placed his recharger on his back so that he did not have to carry it, and had his cannon set to kill. He was weary of any attack and wanted to be as prepared as he could possibly be.

He leaped out and pointed his plasma cannon at the nearest living target. The being that he had pointed it at let out a loud feminine squeak as she tried to get out of the way from the glow as fast as she possibly could. In the dim light, various colored orbs of light lit up the area. He had been pointing his cannon directly at Starfire.

"Thank god you're alive!" Cyborg exclaimed as he lowered his cannon when he seen that it was Starfire that he was about to attack. The other Tamaraneans lowered their nuclear charge and the jungle became its dark self; the only light that was in the area was that of the fire.

He looked around and saw that Robin was next to Moya. He was healing an unconscious Raven. She was levitating a few feet off the ground and appeared to be in a trance-like state rather than unconscious. He turned toward Starfire and saw that she was conversing with someone vaguely familiar in her native language. He saw his green friend curled up by the fire as though he were a dog.

The half-human sat down next to robin, put his recharger on the floor and asked him, "How is she?" He gestured toward Raven.

"Moya says she'll be alright," Robin replied, "But I think he's hiding something. He's been healing her for the last half hour."

Cyborg nodded at his words and then told him about her strange behavior during his coma and of Moya's attempts to cover the what-ever-it-was up. "I know it has something to do with her brother," Robin said to his mechanical friend, "I'm not sure what it is though."

At this point, their friend from Azarath decided to wake up. She was slowly lowered to the ground as she became more awake, and made a groan as she held her aching head. "What happened?" she asked no one in particular.

The Titans that were awake gave her the answers that she sought. She sat up and looked about. She saw that everyone was present and accounted for and that the life inside her was still alive and unharmed. She made a sigh of relief, got up and asked one of the female Tamaraneans if she could wear something that was not burnt to cinders on places via telepathy. The young alien was quite surprised then nodded a moment later and led her to an enclosed space so that she could change in privacy. Even though she did not like the attire that she was wearing, it was better than nothing, she thought. She was wearing a semi-long, blue skirt and a sleeveless top that was blue as well.

She came back and leaned against Moya, strangely, she cuddled into him. The others took this as purely platonic. It was known that Raven and Moya had known each other when they were younger and they assumed that she missed having a friend from her childhood around even though she did not show friendship openly with the other Titans, they thought that he was the one exception.

"Come on guys," Robin said as he gave a loud yawn, "We'll need rest for the morning. It's time for bed."

This was greeted with a unanimous decision by the Titans that were awake, and some of the Tamaraneans. They curled up around the fire and fell asleep quickly, the battle during the day had greatly drained them, in the case of Cyborg, sleep was programmed into him and could not be shut down unless he deactivated the program that ran his sleep cycle.

The dreams of one of the Titans were troubling. The vision of a grand throne room loomed at the edge of the red rug that led to it. The king that was there should not have been in the holy place, for that was what it was, a sacred castle. It was made of white marble and had pillars made of polished gold that supported the ceiling; these pillars had designs etched into the metal itself. The king that was sitting on his throne had one skeletal, angel-like wing and he was sipping a fine, red wine from a clear goblet that was in his right hand. The strange thing about this one-winged angel was that he emitted an aura of pure evil, the demons that he had as his guards were afraid of him as well. It seemed that this 'angel' had evicted the previous owner out of his castle by force because remains of a human-shaped figure was on a cross and that cross was on the wall, the polished floor was covered in thick, dry blood.

When the gruff man known as Galfore awoke the Titans, they thanked him for letting them sleep in. the sounds of a ship were coming near. When it landed, a platoon of Azarathians came out and attacked the half-awake members of the resistance. The flood of spells that whizzed by their heads woke them up in an instant. The Titans attacked the threat without having to be told what to do by Robin; they were taking the battle personally.

Beast Boy changed into an alien creature; it looked like a massive dragon and had spikes running down his back. His long tail ended in a ball of extremely sharp spikes. He lashed out at his foes without mercy; his spiked tail could only be stopped by powerful defensive spells. His massive, leathery wings propelled him in his pursuit of his foes, his claws raked against the defensive walls that his foes put up.

Starfire's starbolts were stronger than normal due to the massive rage that she unleashed. The thermonuclear forces that her body generated wracked those that had failed to dodge or block her attacks. She fired a blast of energy from her eyes as a follow up attack and sent her target flying. He recovered and sent a salvo of purple-colored darkbolts at her. She formed a massive, super-charged starbolt and blasted him with it. Her starbolt absorbed the darkbolt and hit him squarely.

Moya blasted his enemies with their own brand of magic. His hands were covered in his indigo energy; he unleashed a stream of it onto an unsuspecting foe. She was caught off guard and was blasted into unconsciousness. He was blasted in the back during his small victory smile. The red energy tore into his back and burned it. The spell that was used on him was especially potent.

Robin brandished his Bo staff. He had an easy time of deflecting the blasts of magic that were cast at him. He had an extremely difficult time in attacking because the salvo of spells never let up. He threw one of his flash disks, it went off when it hit a darkbolt; he followed up with three ice disks. The disks struck home and the Azarathian was encased in ice, she fell to the jungle floor and stayed immobile.

Cyborg's plasma cannon was more powerful than his sonic cannon. The blast that it made was at least twice as big as his sonic resonator. He dodged a blast from somewhere above him and sent his plasma blast back at the caster. He flew backward and then was hit again by a missile that he launched from within his shoulder compartment. The Azarathian flew backward in a blast of hot gasses and steam that was coming from burns on his skin.

Raven's spells were powerful indeed. Her incantations blasted through the offensive spells of her people with ease. She was unable to penetrate their defensive spells. She shouted her chant and let forth a blast of black energy at her foe. He was blasted into the ground, black electricity cackled over his unconscious body as left over energy found ways to harm him further.

Galfore's halberd was doing a fine job of protecting his people. The enchanted blade broke through the most powerful spells and bit into flesh as he wielded it like a true master. He impaled his foe and threw the limp body down to the ground. The Azarathian was unable to move as his blood poured out of the hole in his stomach. He turned to face another enemy and found that they had all been taken care of.

Beast Boy transformed back into his human form and asked, "Is that all of them?"

"What were you expecting," Cyborg asked him, "a full regiment?"

A figure walked toward them through the smoke of battle. His exceptionally long and thin blade was on his shoulder. It was nearly twice as tall as its wielder. He stood at a massive height of six foot five inches tall. He was wearing black leather that was slightly form-fitting and a black, satin cape. A red design was on the hem of his flowing cape. He gripped his sword with black gloved hands and it clanked silently against the studs in his studded leather armor. His long, flowing platinum hair whipped about in the wind. He gazed at the ones that had defeated his platoon of men.

"Akaröth," Moya said as he lowered himself to the ground, "how nice to see you again.

"You as well, _Erth_," Akaröth said to Moya, "now if you don't mind, I'd like to have that Key you have."

"You will not have the Sigil of Azarath," Moya said to him.

"No matter," he said calmly, "I will have it in my possession before the day is spent." He gazed at the halberd that Galfore wielded and said in a low whisper, "The Lance of Longinus…."

Beast Boy looked at the man, for some reason he looked oddly familiar as though he had seen him before. He shook the feeling off as Akaröth neared them. His piercing orange eyes were disconcerting as he gazed at them.

"I will ask again," Akaröth said quietly, "give me the Key or I will be forced to destroy you."

"I will not give the Key to you," Moya said defiantly to him.

"So be it _Erth, _you have chosen your fate," Akaröth said as he aimed his massive sword at Moya.

He charged the blade glinted in the light of the sun. He made a swipe of his sword and missed his target by mere inches. Moya leaped backward, formed spheres of energy around his hands and threw them at the self-proclaimed king. He easily blocked the blasts and launched a blast of eight, white colored spheres of light that had trailing tails of white-blue light. Moya formed a defensive shield and the spheres of light broke through his shield. Moya flew backward, energy cackling over him as he struggled to recover from the blast of holy energy.

Raven flew off to meet the challenge that had presented itself. She chanted her mantra and sent a massive stream of energy at him. He raised his hand and a green energy field surrounded him. Her blast of energy was deflected harmlessly away. He leaped up ward; his speed enhanced by his strange brand of magic, and brought his sword down upon her. She formed a black portal around herself and evaded his attack. Using his small bit of surprise against him, she blasted him at point blank range with a blast of dark magic.

Akaröth was blasted backward; his momentary lapse of concentration had cost him. He was hot going to let that happen again. He steadied himself in the air and a massive bolt of lightning rained from the sky and struck her. She fell to the ground; the force of the lightning bolt sent her into the ground. Leftover electricity crackled over her still form.

Robin watched the two Titans fall. He shouted, "TITANS, GO!!" They did not need to be told twice. Beast Boy charged in as a leopard, Cyborg charged while he blasted away with his cannon; Starfire flew at the Azarathian king, determination in her bright green eyes. Robin charged after his friends, for once they had reacted faster than he had anticipated; he threw a bomb Birdarang and used his Bo staff to give him a flying leap.

Akaröth outstretched his hand and Beast Boy ran into a transparent, blue shield. He used his sword to block Robin's bomb disk, it exploded in a blast of flame; the intense fire did little to hurt him but the starbolts that were unleashed upon him added to the heat. He leaped backward, outstretched another hand and pointed a finger at Starfire. An image of a clock appeared in front of her and the hands moved backward. She was moving at half speed and appeared as though she was in a different time-stream. He leapt over the plasma blasts that Cyborg unleashed and countered with a spell. The ground below the mechanized warrior erupted in golden flames; the warrior flew upward due to the force of the blast. When he landed some feet away, smoke and steam was coming off him.

Robin landed next to him. His Bo staff lashed out and met the fierce resistance of Akaröth's sword. This sword was not a Key; it was just a finely crafted piece of metal. The sparks that flew off the sharp, slivers of metal landed on the ground in silence. Robin withdrew a Birdarang while he was fighting with the King; he was taking a risk and used a suicide tactic. He took his bomb Birdarang and detonated it on his Bo staff. The explosion sent both of them flying backward.

Robin's tactic paid off, the blast sent the dazed form of Sephiroth into the clawed clutches of Beast Boy. He raked the back of Akaröth with his powerful claws. They did not penetrate his black clothes for some strange reason and he threw Beast Boy in the air where he landed next to Cyborg. Cyborg got up, his systems had rebooted and he charged again at the thing that was his foe.

Moya groaned as he awakened, the blast of holy energy had taken a toll on him but he was not ready to quit just yet. He got up and flew over to Akaröth as he formed spheres of energy around his hands. He unleashed the energy in the form of a massive salvo. Akaröth blocked the attacks with his sword. While he was occupied, Robin came up from behind and threw a bomb Birdarang. The Birdarang's aim was true and it hit the Azarathian king squarely on the back. He turned around and with one fluid motion, he hit Robin in the side with his sword, Robin's cape protected him from the blade's sharpness and he flew backwards where the slowed form of Starfire did her best to catch her friend.

Raven got up from where she had been impounded in the ground. The lightning that chorused through her body left her numb. She saw her friend fly backwards from the blow of Akaröth's sword and she caught him with her magic. She enveloped Starfire as well and reversed the slowing spell on her. They two young women blasted Akaröth at once and unwittingly created a three-way combination attack. The two beams hit him when Cyborg fired his cannon at him as well. Sephiroth was forced backward by the blast, and was met with a charge from Beast Boy; he had taken the form of a rhino.

Akaröth got up from where he had fallen; a malicious smile was on his face. "There are few beings that can hurt me like that," he said to them, "You should feel honored." He charged at Robin, their metal weapons flashed and sparked as they danced together. Cyborg joined in, his mechanical strength made up for his lack of precision.

The two teens quickly leaped away and Akaröth was met with a multicolored blast that came from Moya, Raven and Starfire. He outstretched a hand and the massive stream of energy was deflected off a transparent, green shield. They stopped their blast of energy and Beast Boy charged again. Akaröth sent a blast of energy at the ground below Beast Boy and it rolled backward as though an earthquake had struck there. The green shape shifter transformed into a sparrow to evade the rolling ground.

Galfore looked on helplessly. He did not show his wounds to the Titans because he thought that it would have interfered with their concentration on the threat at hand. He was resting at the base of a tree and looked at his wound; it was bleeding freely and there was no way to stop it. He looked at his lance; Akaröth had called it the 'Lance of Longinus,' he did not know who Longinus was, but whoever he was, he had to have been quite powerful to create a weapon that negated magic. He leaned up against the tropical tree and let the blood flow out of side freely, even he knew that he was doomed to die….

Robin threw an ice Birdarang at Akaröth; he used his blue, transparent shield again and blocked the attack only to have Cyborg blast it with his plasma cannon. It seemed that his blue shield blocked physical attacks and his green shield blocked energy attacks. He was using this information against his foe to distract him from the Titans that relied on energy blasts.

Akaröth was blasted backwards by the plasma blast; smoke was coming off his black cloak. He charged at Cyborg only to be rammed by Beast Boy that had taken the form of a triceratops. He flew to the side and sent a blast of eight, white orbs of energy that had blue-white tails of trailing energy. Beast Boy did not dodge in time and was struck by the holy energy. He flew backwards; white, holy energy was cackling over his limp form. Starfire, Moya, and Raven blasted Sephiroth with their energy, the black, indigo and green swirling beam managed to hit him squarely, Robin had distracted him long enough for him not to use his green shield.

Akaröth took the blast of energy, outstretched his hand and pointed it at the three energy users. A blast of negative energy appeared from nowhere in front of them. Whatever was viewed in the blast was a photographic negative color. The three cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Akaröth had a twisted smile on his face as he saw the three energy users twitch on the ground. He did a back flip as Robin came charging at him. He used his sword to attack the Boy Wonder and cut Robin's Bo staff in half. He extended the two halves and fought with two weapons.

Akaröth outstretched his hand and Robin was attacked from the ground by ferocious, golden flames. He landed on the ground some feet away and did not move. Cyborg blasted Akaröth with his plasma cannon and a blast of missiles. Akaröth used both of his shields and during the explosion Cyborg had leapt into the air and used the sonic cannon that was located in his shoe to blast the Azarathian king and deliver a crushing stomp-kick. His foe came out of his stomp-kick seemingly unharmed; he used his sword to deliver a lightning bolt to the mechanized warrior. Cyborg flew back, electricity coming off him and leaving a trail of sparks as he flew threw the air.

The three energy users shakily got up, the blast of energy that the Azarathian King had used on them made it feel like their insides were ripped out of them then shoved back inside in the wrong order. They split up and charged back into the fray of battle. Starfire pelted the false king with her starbolts; he blocked the green blasts of thermonuclear energy with a green shield as his sword was enveloped in Raven's black energy. Moya blasted him with his indigo energy so that his hold on his sword was relinquished; Raven flung his sword away and into a tropical tree.

With his sword gone, he was less of a threat though he still had his magic to fall back upon. He was formulating the best plan of attack when a blast of energy erupted from the ground below him. He emerged unharmed, it seemed that Robin had placed a small mine before he had struck him during his last confrontation, the blast from the mine had cost him precious seconds. Starfire, Moya and Raven sent a stream of energy at the slightly less lethal King. He blocked the energy attacks using three green shields.

Beast Boy shakily got up, pain was dully echoing through his body, and transformed into a cheetah as he charged toward Akaröth at breakneck speed. The false king did not have time to react him and was attacked by the clawing form of a green cheetah. He promptly transformed into an ape and repeatedly slammed his massive fists into the chest of his foe.

Akaröth was momentarily stunned from the ruthless form of the green shape shifter. He regained his footing and flung the beast of burden off him; Beast Boy landed on his feet by transforming into a jaguar. "AZARATH METRION SZYNTHOS!!" Raven and Moya shouted in unison. The black-indigo beam of energy hit the transparent green shield that Sephiroth had made just in time. The swirling beam of energy did not harmlessly reflect off the shield, it pushed him backward. He abandoned his shield and leapt up into the air at the same time. He outstretched his hand and Moya and Raven were enveloped in a sphere of darkly multicolored energy. It flashed a bright white and the two spell casters fell to the floor and did not move.

Cyborg got up with a groan; his systems were not built to handle the strain of a massive overload over a repeated massive overload. He shot a stream of his energy toward his foe and let loose his last three missiles as he charged toward the false king. Robin joined in; his Bo staff was drawn into a standard offensive position. They saw an orange blur rush past them. Starfire had wrenched Akaröth's sword out of the tropical tree and had flown as fast as she could toward him. He put up his blue shield and the sheer ferocity of her malevolence allowed her to break through it.

He was impaled with his own sword….

Cyborg's missiles found their target….

Deafening roar of explosives and hot gasses….

When the smoke cleared, Starfire had been flung away and had landed near the two spell casters. The unconscious form of the Azarathian King was laying limply in the opposite direction of the young alien girl. His sword was still inside him and blood was slowly coming out of him. Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg went up to their injured friends and helped them regain consciousness.

"You guys okay?" Beast Boy asked the two spell casters.

"We were just sent into Limbo, do you think we're alright?" Raven asked rhetorically.

"I was just asking," the green shape shifter replied.

"That was awesome what you just did," Robin said to Starfire.

"Yeah, no one can survive having a sword impaled in them, even me!" Cyborg said to her, adding to Robin's praise.

The young alien girl blushed deeply and smiled broadly at her leader's praise of her. "Thank you Robin," she said to him.

A sunbeam formed on the lifeless remains of the Azarathian King. The divine light of the Immortal Planes were merciful to the False King, or so it seemed. The lifeless body stood up; his strange, malevolent bright orange eyes were replaced with emotionless white orbs of vengeance. He removed his own sword from where it was impaled in his chest in one fluid motion, his wound closed up as soon as the sword was removed from his body; the blood that was on his sword dripped silently onto the floor.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

His back pulsed as though something were trying to burst out of it. In a sound of rending flesh, one bloody, skeletal, angel-like wing emerged from the back of Akaröth. The wing was glossy and tendrils of flesh clung onto the holy-white wing. He moved his arm to the wing and pulled the flesh that had clung onto the wing. The flesh and skin that he had pulled off, he let fall to the floor. His strange armor was torn in half. He turned his gaze toward the Titans and charged with his magnificent sword, the blood that still managed to cling to his sword flew off in small drips of red spray.

For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

The Titans looked in awe, shock and horror as their slain enemy was brought back to life seemingly by divine intervention. They remained paralyzed with fear as he removed his sword and transformed into a false, one-winged angel. They barely leapt out of the way, as he charged at them. They attacked him with their various means and he evaded or blocked every shot fired at him with his massive, bloodstained sword.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

He leaped into the air; his one wing let him fly as though he had two. He brought his sword down upon Moya and made a long, jagged slash on his arm. Moya retaliated by using one of his _Erth_ abilities. The stream of silver colored energy hit his false king squarely but did little damage to the false angel. Raven enveloped him in her dark energy and slammed him through a tree and into another before he broke her control over his body. He was upon her in mere moments and blasted her at point blank range with eight spheres of light. She flew backwards and into the startled arms of Starfire.

For the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth.

The demonic, one winged angel turned his wrath toward Robin. He flew down to meet his prey and it retaliated with rapid blows of his Bo staff. Sparks burst forth from the metal as the two fought against each other. They anticipated the other's moves and at the same time, they employed their 'secret' attack on the other. Robin took out one of his few ice Birdarangs and threw it at the false king just as Akaröth sent a lightning bolt at the Boy Wonder.

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The Boy Wonder and the false king flew in opposite directions. Robin's right hand was encased in ice and Akaröth was blasted with his own massive lightning bolt. Akaröth quickly recovered and he flew off to destroy the mechanical wizard. As Cyborg did his best to block the vicious and quick attacks, he did something that the other Titans had never seen him do before. He took the blade with his shoulder, his armor held, and he blasted Sephiroth at full power with his plasma cannon. The blue stream of energy hit the false angel squarely and he flew off his body to the surprised form of Beast Boy.

The kingdom of this world is become  
The Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ,  
And of His Christ.

Beast Boy looked at Cyborg hold his own against the menace known as Akaröth then blast him his way. He transformed into his dragon form, how he first transformed into it was beyond him, and swung his spiked tail at his enemy as hard as he could. Akaröth blocked the powerful attack with his blue shield and blasted him with his strange magics. He felt liquid fire flow through his veins as strange symbols appeared on him. He immediately reverted to his human form and Akaröth finished his attack with a massive lightning bolt. He flew backwards, electricity flowing over his numb body and crashed in to a tree.

And He shall reign forever and ever.  
And He shall reign forever and ever.  
And He shall reign forever and ever.  
And He shall reign forever and ever.

Raven and Starfire watched in horror as the false angel de-transformed Beast Boy and then blast him away with a lightning bolt. They charged their energies together and formed a black and green swirling beam of pure fury. They unleashed it upon the sadistic form of Akaröth with all their might. He blocked their massive blast with his green shield, the force of the swirling beam forced him backward; remnant energy from the blast chorused around him.

King of Kings

Akaröth gazed at the aftermath that the massive beam of energy had unleashed. There were few who could conjure up such a blast. He leaped up and blocked green starbolts with his sword while he evaded black magic cast by Raven. He deflected twin eye beams of energy and sent them toward Raven. She failed to dodge and was struck by her comrade's thermonuclear energy. He used his foe's gasp against her by delivering a vicious spinning kick the sent her downward. He turned toward the recovered spell caster and unleashed eight spheres of holy-white light upon her. She phased through the attack and chanted as she blasted five black needles at him.

Forever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
And Lord of Lords  
Forever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

He took her spell as he unleashed a full frontal assault on her. The five needles of energy exploded as he struck her with his sword. She cried out in pain as his sword drew blood; he was striking for pain rather than death. He grabbed her by the neck and flung her to the ground where she crashed into the recovering form of Starfire. He turned to gaze out at the carnage he had delivered to the Titans and found himself on the receiving end of a silvered colored blast of energy. He recovered and flew toward Moya at breakneck speed as he held his sword in a one-hit-kill position. He struck and Moya managed to dodge the vicious attack.

King of Kings

He turned to face the evading form of his enemy and unleashed a massive sphere of fire that flew toward him. Moya failed to dodge the massive fireball and was forced into a tree before it exploded in a blazing blast of fire. He was brought to the attention of Robin; a Birdarang had narrowly missed his left ear. He charged towards the Boy Wonder and brought his sword upon the cowering form Robin only to be blasted away by a blue plasma blast.

Forever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
And Lord of Lords  
Forever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

He emerged from the plasma blast unharmed and flew toward Cyborg, only to be attacked from behind by Robin. While the false angel fought against Robin and Cyborg, Moya climbed out of his burnt tree and saw the convulsing form of Beast Boy. It seemed that the spell Akaröth had used against him had poisoned and blinded him as well as rendered him unable to transform into his beasts. He concentrated on healing his injured friend and a small whit glow covered him from head to toe. Before Beast Boy could reply a thank you, the damaged form of Cyborg flew over them.

King of Kings

Raven and Starfire finally regained consciousness, they helped one another up; Raven was bleeding from the many wounds inflicted by Sephiroth. She was breathing deeply; the loss of blood was taking its toll on her. Starfire was walking with one arm hanging limply, her other one was helping the bleeding form of Raven walk. They saw Moya heal Beast Boy, he ran over to them and began to heal Raven. He healed Starfire's shoulder as Robin flew over their heads. When he landed, a small trail of blood was coming from a wound to his head. He shakily got up only to have Akaröth strike him down again.

Forever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!  
And Lord of Lords  
Forever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

The three less-damaged energy wielders sent a tri-colored blast at the false angel. Akaröth blocked the tri-colored beam with not his shield but with his sword. He flew forward to meet the new threat, his sword still blocking the energy blasts that were being fired at him. He kicked Moya in the side with a monstrous spinning kick and with his excess momentum; he sent Starfire flying with a kick to her chest. He turned his sword on Raven; she phased through his attack and sent a salvo of darkbolts at him. He evaded her onslaught of dark magic and an immense ball of flame erupted in front of her that did not seem to hurt the Azarathian King.

King of Kings and Lord of Lords

Raven was flung backwards due to the sheer heat of the explosion. She fell onto the jungle floor and tried to haul her scorched frame up and off the ground and failed to do so. She resigned herself to the gentle embrace that the moist, jungle floor offered her and fell into unconsciousness. Beast Boy saw his friend and comrade get hit at point-blank range with a powerful fire spell. He charged at the false king as a cheetah then leaped upon him as a tiger. With feral anger coursing through his veins, he did not notice the wounds that were inflicted on him. He continued to rake the grappling form of Akaröth until he was flung off by a blast of holy energy in the form of eight blue-white spheres light.

And He shall reign forever and ever.  
And He shall reign forever and ever.

Cyborg saw one of his best friends get blasted at direct range from a spell that had done Raven in. He charged as fast as he could towards Akaröth and unleashed a fully charged plasma blast at him. Akaröth sliced the blast in half and the deflected halves passed harmlessly away from him. He stood up from where Beast Boy had pinned him, the red drip of blood echoed silently as it fell to the moist floor and flew off toward Cyborg and in one sudden, fluid motion, he sliced Cyborg's plasma arm off.

King of Kings

Cyborg growled in pain as his arm was cleanly sliced off. As the False Angel reveled in the plight of his enemy, Starfire flew forward and attacked him at point-blank range. Her anger far exceeded her pain. Her supercharged starbolts were fueled by her righteous anger for the man that stood in her way. She unleashed them in a furry of rage, hatred and pain. The thermonuclear energy erupted in explosions as the False Angel blocked them.

Forever and ever. Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

He emerged from her onslaught seemingly unharmed; his strange armor was smoking and was covered in scratches. In her small state of shock, he clasped his hand upon her neck and tightened his grip on her with a sadistic smile plastered on his face. He continued to crush her neck in his massive grip; the Titans were afraid that if they did something rash, they would lose their young alien friend for good. They waited and bid their time, all the while Starfire was struggling against the hand that cut off her air supply.

And He shall reign forever and ever, Forever and ever.

"Do not harm that woman!" Moya said in a deathly calm voice to Akaröth; his anger was barely contained.

King of Kings

"And what if I do, little _Erth_?" he replied in a cold malicious voice as he tightened hi already strong hold on the young Tamaranean girl.

And Lord of Lords.

King of Kings

And Lord of Lords.

"I will slay you," Moya said resolutely as he formed spheres of indigo energy around his hands.

And He shall reign forever and ever.

"I highly doubt that, little _Erth_," the False Angel whispered in a deadly calm. A dead silence came over the group of combatants as the stare-off continued. The faint whimpers of Starfire could be heard.

King of Kings  
And Lord of Lords.  
Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!

With a sadistic grin plastered on his face, he dropped his sword and plunged his free hand into the heart of Starfire. Despite the ruthless grip on her neck, she emitted an ear-piercing scream. The hand that went inside her body seemed to reach into her soul. She arched her back as pain chorused through her body, small specks of blood formed where his arm went into her. He pulled his arm out from inside her, strangely, there was no wound, and in his clenched hand was a red, fist-sized gem that was dripping blood.

Hallelujah!

He threw the limp form of Starfire to the ground. She stayed there and did not move. He gazed at the gem almost lovingly and lost himself to his prize. The red gem emitted an aura of pure power and vileness at the same time. Starfire's blood dripped onto the floor silently. The red splatters slowly trailed off her back and made a small rivulet down to her stomach.

Moya's eyes glowed a vicious, unholy white color. The energy that was chorusing through to his right hand was a malevolent red. He gritted his teeth as his energy sparked and danced around him. "AZARATH METRION SZYNTHOS!!" He shouted as the launched the massive energy he had contained at Sephiroth. The malevolent energy turned into a hand that enveloped his target and exploded in a fantastic blaze of heat and light.

The Azarathian King emerged from the massive energy attack relatively unharmed. He looked at Moya and said to him, "Little _Erth_, I do not fear your power." He clutched the red gem and walked to the spaceship that he had used to land on the god-forsaken world of Tamaran.

Moya ran up to the motionless form of Starfire, the other Titans had gathered around him. "Go help Raven!" he shouted to them as he concentrated on healing his alien friend. She glowed faintly and she slowly regained consciousness. He turned to the prone Form of Raven; Robin had brought her to him. He concentrated on healing her; she glowed faintly for a moment then awoke with a groan.

"What did Akaröth take from Starfire?" Robin asked the Azarathian healer.

"I will tell you what I know of it after we clean up here…." Moya replied and looked around at the damage they had caused during their intense fight.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Okay, people that was chapter five. I sure hope that you guys liked it. As for the asterisk at the beginning of the song that I had inserted in this chapter, I got it from Neon Genesis Evangelion. It appears there when Asuka is fighting that Angel that is in space and Rei comes and saves her with the Lance of Longinus. If you want the song, e-mail me, my e-mail is in my profile.

Well, I am not sure when I will be able to post the next installment in this story, but I will do my best to have it done soon!

Sincerely,

Darkbusterrancher

37


	8. Covenant

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Teen Titans. I do, however, own this plot and my original characters that I have placed in it.

Thank you Jurodan, for being my very first beta reader! For those of you that have read this story without his editing service, I thank you for putting up with my errors and slightly misplaced thoughts. Now on to the story! Enjoy!

CHRONICLES OF AZARATH

CHAPTER SIX

Covenant

"Like a Tyrant King, he will claim his throne," – Anonymous.

The false, one-winged gazed at the red gem clasped in his fist with an almost loving expression. He shifted his gaze to the living battery that his subjects had captured. "Who knew they had such a use?" he asked himself and left the generator room.

Pressed into a metal that was shaped into a cross, a lone Tamaranean stood there against her will. She was bound by cold metal and thick wires were connected to a sphere of glass that was around her hands. She could feel her energy being drained from her body. She had struggled against the machine but only ended in draining her faster.

She turned her head and a tear trickled down her face at what she had not previously seen. There were six others as she was. All being drained of their energy to fuel the space ship they were on. She looked up and saw that the glass covering over them was only filtering out the extreme heat of the Tamaranean sun but nothing else. Her body could not stop converting solar energy into useable energy for her. She was stuck in this cycle, a limitless source of power for her captors….

A creature, one that she had yet to see before walked up to her. It was humanoid in shape though more slender. Its skin was a deep green and had smears of black. He was wearing some sort of suite that kept his body moist, he was clearly amphibious. He turned his blue, reptile-like eyes to a pair of Azarathians that had brought medical equipment with them. He pressed a button on the side of the machine that held her and she was lowered so that the Azarathian could work on her.

He smiled sweetly at her when he saw her look of pure hatred, "You should be glad that you're here, at least you're alive." He laughed then grabbed what looked like a mask with a tube coming from it. "You're still a bio-organic being and as such, you will need food."

He nodded to one of his helpers. His eyes glowed orange and he took control over her body not her mind. The 'doctor' the eased the tube down her throat and into her stomach so that she could be force-fed. He nodded to the other Azarathian and he enveloped thin tubes that he eased into her body and to her lungs so that she was able to breathe. The doctor connected the tubes to a tank that contained different amounts of oxygen and sedatives. He smiled to himself now that his work on her was done, he had six more to do.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Akaröth stood alone in a cave. The wind whistled in from outside and made the candles flicker. He used his strange magics to levitate the red gem that he and obtained from Starfire's soul and let it float in the center of his summoning circle. He channeled his power into the stone and it sent a red beam of light to the center of the circle. The complex, arcane symbols glowed with power and four red eyes appeared on the cave wall.

"_KYOCÉ DÆUR TEAL'C GA'ĨNE?" _A bodiless voice asked. It was tainted with darkness and clearly had no tolerance with good things.

The False Angel smiled; he knew this obscure language that the Demon King was using. "I _have summoned you," _he replied using the Demon King's language.

Hearing a response in his own, ancient and terrible language, the summoned spirit asked, _"Who has taught you the Infernal Tongue?"_

Akaröth smiled again and said, _"What is the price you will pay to get out of your prison, Trigon the Destroyer?"_

"_No mortal magic can bring me back to the Realm of Mortals,"_ Trigon replied.

"_Answer the question," _Akaröth demanded, _"what price will you pay to get out of the Abyss?"_

It was a while before Trigon the Destroyer spoke. _"What is your price?" _he asked his summoner.

He smiled at this question, _"I want you to stay out of my way."_

Trigon the Destroyer thought for a moment then said, _"I will gladly pay that price if you stay out of my way as well."_

"_Our pact has been made," _Akaröth said to the summoned spirit, _"The next time I contact you, I will liberate you from the Abyss."_

He ceased his flow of magic to the stone and Trigon the Destroyer vanished in an instant. "I have a much bigger plan than the Mortal Realm," he said to himself as he walked out of the cave. All traces of the summoning circle had vanished when the spell ended. The candles had been consumed as well despite the fact that no more than fifteen minutes were spent in the cave. The icy land of Azarath loomed before him and the castle that he had taken over was a mere speck on the horizon. He walked up to his mount, a beautiful white dragon, mounted it and sped off for his castle.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Okay, way too short. I'm truly sorry about this but it must be done. Every author has their fair share of agonizingly short chapters and this was mine. I really hope that this short chapter is the last of them, if not, then what can I say?


End file.
